Different
by Kazooboid
Summary: He infuriates her, but for some reason, she can't stop thinking about him. Why does Madge feel this way about the boy from the Seam? Madge's POV, rated T for mild swearing, but really just to be safe. Will do all 3 books if this fic gets popular enough.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Hunger Games fanfiction, I hope you all like it, and I will try to update on a regular basis :) Oh, and I won't stick entirely to the original HG plot, I'm sorry!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the Hunger Games. **

**Chapter 1 **

I open my eyes slowly, wincing as the bright light streaming in from the window shines into them. I turn over and bury my face in the soft pillow, wishing that I could go back to sleep. I almost have when my father knocks on the door, asking that I get up. I groan and shove the covers off me, standing up slowly, feeling my joints ache in protest. I had not had a good night – I had had nightmares, in which I had been picked. I had been chosen to fight to the death.

I press my fingers to my temples and rub slowly in circular motions, closing my eyes again.

_Why today? Why do we have to go through with this? It's horrible. _

I open my wardrobe and pick out the first dress I see. It's white, and comes down to my knees. The top half is covered in cream lace which is in a flower pattern. I mentally shrug and dress quickly. I didn't care what I looked like. Why should I?

I always felt bad on reaping days, simply because I always worried when I really had no reason to. I felt guilty for being scared. So many people had worse chances than me, and I was feeling sorry for myself. It just seemed wrong, but I couldn't help it.

I combed my hair quickly, avoiding looking at myself in the mirror. I knew what I would see – a pale face, dark circles under my blue eyes, blonde hair that fell a few inches past my shoulders. Nothing special – I wasn't ugly, but I still preferred to not look at myself. The dark circles would only remind me of last night's terrors.

I slip on some shoes and make my way downstairs to be met with a cup of tea, with one teaspoon of sugar, like always. Toby, the man who helps us in our house, sits across from me for a few minutes, attempting conversation. He gives up quickly, and I don't blame him. I'm a terrible conversationalist when I'm worried.

I gulp down the tea and check the clock that hangs in the kitchen. Only an hour more. What would happen if I'm picked? Highly unlikely, but it could still happen.

I couldn't imagine what I'd do. What would Haymitch say? The man who would be my mentor, how would he react?

I shake my head, and set my empty mug down on the counter. No. I wouldn't be picked today. And once again, the guilty feeling washed over me again for being scared.

My father comes down the stairs, wearing a suit.

"You look nice, Madge." He comments.

"Thank you," I reply in a monotonous voice. He sighs and walks over, palm outstretched. A gold pin is there, a mockingjay.

"What's this?" I ask, genuine surprise in my voice, although I recognised it. It was the pin that my aunt took into the arena.

My father fastens the pin to my dress, and I raise my eyebrows, looking at him expectantly. I knew the pin was old, and solid gold. Why has he given this to me? "For luck." He says, briefly managing to look me in the eyes before turning away.

"T-thanks" I stutter, still surprised.

* * *

They arrive later than normal. I open the door to three sharp knocks, to find Gale and Katniss standing on my doorstep. Only Katniss smiles at me. Gale glares as he takes in my expensive dress, the gold coins in my hand.

"Pretty dress." He says, refusing to look me in the eyes. I press my lips together, knowing that it was not a compliment.

"Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?" I reply sharply. Confusion appears in his eyes for a second, but quickly returns to indifference.

"You won't be going to the Capitol." He says flatly. He glances at my pin, and I can see that he is resisting a glare. "What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."

"That's not her fault." Katniss cuts in. I want to smile at her, to thank her for sticking up for me, but I can't, not in front of Gale.

"No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is." He says. I refuse to show any emotion on my face, but inside I wanted to slap him. I couldn't help that I came from the family I came from. I quickly give Katniss the money, and take the strawberries.

"Good luck, Katniss." I say nothing to Gale.

"You too." She replies. I close the door as they turn to walk away.

Once out of sight from them, I let my annoyance show. I storm past Toby who takes a step back, surprise showing on his face. I stomp up the stairs to my bedroom, slamming the door. How dare he! I throw my pillow across the room, flinching when it hits the wall. Why was I so angry? How did Gale manage to piss me off so easily?

I sigh, and retrieve the pillow, no longer angry. Just tired, like always. I sit on the bed, and fiddle with a strand of my hair. I absentmindedly put it back in a ponytail, staring into space, not really thinking about anything.

Eventually, my father calls for me to come downstairs so that we can leave together. We get to the reaping early, seeing as my father is the mayor. He oversees the final preparations while I sit alone, waiting for the other people to arrive. I have my finger pricked with a needle by a peacekeeper, and the blood marked on a page. I barely feel the short, sharp pain; I am still in a daze from my previous outburst of anger.

The citizens of Twelve slowly filter in, lines of children and teenagers in their categories, talking to each other, fiddling with their smart clothes – but most of all, glancing at the two glass bowls that sit on the stage.

When the time comes, Effie appears on the stage, her hair a bright pink this year. I inwardly sigh and look away, not listening to her speech, not watching the familiar video of the Uprisings. I turn my head this way and that, scanning the crowd for nothing in particular. My eyes land on Gale, who was staring at me. I feel anger bubble up inside me, looking away quickly. What was he looking at? This stupid dress that had started this whole thing? My gold pin?

I told myself that I didn't care one bit. So what if he was looking at me?

"As always, ladies first!" Effie's voice breaks through my daze, and I look up at her. She reaches into the bowl, her hand hovering above the slips of paper. She draws one out quickly, and holds it still for a second. The breath catches in my throat. Could my name be on that slip of paper?

**I have no idea if this is good or not, but please read and review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games *sobs* Suzanne Collins does.**

**Chapter 2**

"Primrose Everdeen." She looks up from the piece of paper at the crowd. It feels like my heart stops for a second - Primrose? Primrose Everdeen? Wasn't that Katniss's little sister?

My mind is racing as I watch a small girl begin to make her way to the stage, a peacekeeper on either side of her. I catch a glimpse of her face, pale, frightened. The crowd is silent, as shocked as I am. The tension is unbearable.

"Prim? Prim!" A voice cries out. I turn my head to see Katniss being restrained by more peacekeepers. She pushes against them, struggling to reach her sister. As her movements become more panicked, she cries out,

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

I can feel the blood drain away from my face as the words sink in. A volunteer? My hands shake slightly as I watch her head up onto the stage. She looks as shocked as I am at what has just happened.

"No! Katniss, no!" Prim shrieks as Gale carries her. I stare after him, listening as her cries fade away. I don't know what to think. I'm confused - it's all happened so fast. Everything is a blur as Katniss says her name into the microphone, her voice echoing around me as her eyes flicker across the crowd.

Only then do I realise that the people around me have begun to touch their fingers to their lips and hold them out to Katniss. I feel frozen for a brief second before I copy them, my eyes fixed to her. The symbol of thanks, of admiration, of goodbye.

Effie quickly moves it along, no longer cheerful, pulling the paper slip out of the second glass bowl. She reads the name as fast as she can.

"Peeta Mellark."

Once again, it is silent. Effie asks for volunteers, but no one comes forward. He climbs the stage slowly, steadily, and takes his place beside Katniss, though not without a look of horror on his face.

I tear my eyes away from the pair on the stage to look for Gale. Where was he? Were you allowed to leave, just like that? Probably not, but someone needed to help Prim. In any case, he wasn't here.

My eyes flicker back to Katniss and Peeta who are shaking hands. They stare at each other in a way that isn't normal.

And then it's over, and they're moving to go inside. The doors shut with finality, and people begin to leave, murmuring quietly to each other. I stand still, shocked. My father has gone inside the justice building with them, so I'm alone. For some reason, something compels me to go up the steps and through the door. The peacekeepers move to stop me but I keep walking, down the hall, to a room where I find Gale holding Prim. Katniss's mother sits beside them, staring into space. I sit on the first chair I see which is thankfully far away from them. Peeta's family isn't here, so they must be seeing him right now.

After a minute or so, a peacekeeper comes through, and motions for Prim and her mother to go through a door, which I assume Katniss is on the other side of. They stand and follow the peacekeeper, and the door shuts.

I stare at my knees, hands linked in my lap, not really knowing why I was here. I knew Katniss, we were friends. We never saw each other socially outside of school - people from the seam and people from the town didn't mix like that, or that's what society taught us. But we paired up in sports and sat together at lunch, and rarely spoke, which suited both of us. I'm sure that was friendship though. But what did I have to offer Katniss, here in the Justice Building? Advice? I was clueless on how to survive, I barely knew anything. So I guess I was just here to say goodbye.

I glance up through the hair that now falls over my face, and find Gale looking at me. I quickly look back at my hands, annoyed. Why would he look at me?

An awkward silence follows for a few seconds. Then, he speaks.

"Why are you here?" It didn't seem so much of a question as an accusation. I push my hair away from my face and meet his gaze.

"I came to say goodbye to my friend." I reply.

"I didn't think people from town associated with us from the Seam." He shoots back, the annoyance clear in his voice. I look away again, not sure how to reply. I grit my teeth and stare at the wall to my right, refusing to look at him again.

After a while, Prim and her mother leave, and Gale goes into the room without another word to me. Katniss's mother glances at me as they walk past, but doesn't say anything to me.

I wait in the room, sitting on the uncomfortable chair, not meaning to listen to the muffled voices from the other side of the door. I can't make out what they're saying, and don't want to.

Gale leaves after a while, pulled away by a peacekeeper. And then it's my turn.

I step through the door and find Katniss facing away from me. She turns when the door shuts, surprised that she has another visitor other than Gale and her family.

For some reason, I feel like I have to do this quickly, like what I'm doing is forbidden or will take too long. I don't know where it comes from, but the words escape my mouth as soon as she sees me.

"They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?" I unclip the mockingjay pin that my father gave to me and hold it out to her.

"Your pin?" She asks in disbelief.

"Here, I'll put it on your dress, all right?" My hands shake slightly as I fix it to the soft material. "Promise you'll wear it into the arena, Katniss? Promise?" I ask, fearing for a second that she will push me away, and reject my token. I didn't want her to forget about here - I wanted her to have something from her district.

"Yes." Katniss said, the surprise still showing on her face. I kiss her on the cheek, then turn and leave.

I walk down the hallway and pause for a second outside the door, considering what I've just done. For one, my father would kill me for handing away such a valuable family heirloom. Or would he? Perhaps he would understand somehow.

I also hadn't properly said goodbye, but it was the best I could do. Maybe I should've hugged her or something, but we hadn't been that good friends.

I breathed out slowly, and opened the doors, staring across the now empty plaza. I turn and begin the walk home, wondering where I go from here.

**I'm sorry, I know there wasn't much Gale x Madge here, but I promise there'll be more soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm just gonna go ahead and update again because yeah. Remember to review! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. *sighs* **

**Chapter 3 **

I don't want to go home. Not yet. I need to be alone for a while, to think about everything's that's happened. It's still light, although I have no idea what time it is. I forgot to wear my watch.

I walk through the town and pass the bakery, which is shut. I sigh and look away, not wanting to think about Peeta. Everyone knew Katniss was strong, she could hunt – but what could Peeta do? What, if any, was his advantage in the games? I shiver slightly, and move on.

I let my mind wander as I walk, trying to think of anything but what has just happened, but it's impossible. Did Katniss stand a chance of winning? Maybe, but how? What were the other tributes like?

I sigh, and smooth out my dress absentmindedly. Gale had been right, it was a pretty dress. So what if it was expensive, that it showed I was from the town.

I look up at my surroundings and notice that I have left the town behind, that I am now entering the Seam. I stop, and glance around me. The place was pretty empty. Everyone was inside.

I continued walking, but I still worried. What would people say if they saw the mayor's daughter in the Seam? In fact, would they say anything?

I have left the pavement now, scuffing my cream shoes in the dirt. The houses around me gradually become smaller and more broken, and I stop once I realise just how far I'd walked from town. In fact, where was I?

It was silent, absent of any people. I had no one to ask directions from, but even if there was, I probably would have been too scared to. I turn a full 180 degrees, searching for anything recognisable. I can't see anything I know – why would I, when before now, I had had no reason to come to the Seam?

"Dammit." I mutter under my breath. What now?

"Madge?" I turn my head to where the voice came from, and find myself looking at Gale Hawthorn, of all people.

_Ugh. _

He sounds genuinely surprised to see me, but doesn't show it on his face. Instead, he glares at me.

"What do_ you_ want?" I ask, returning the glare. He was the last person I wanted to see.

"Nothing. I was just surprised to see a Townie here, especially someone like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shoot back, hearing the annoyance in my voice. I didn't like that nickname, 'Townie'. Gale snorts, looking at me like I was stupid and couldn't understand something really obvious that he'd just said.

"Well?" I demand, my hands curling into fists by my side. He looks away, at the sky, and then back at me.

"Nothing." He snarls in an equally unfriendly voice. He turns and walks away from me, disappearing quickly behind a building. I sigh angrily and stomp away in the opposite direction.

_What the Hell is his problem? _I think to myself, flicking some hair out of my face. I stop walking eventually when I realise that I've become even more lost than before. My frustration turns on myself, and I sit on the ground, dress and all, and groan.

_Where am I?_ I sit and stare at the dirt in front of me for a while.

"Now, what's a girl like you doing in a place like here?" A voice sounds from behind me, and I turn my head to see who's speaking. A tall man stands close to me – no, in fact, someone who was not quite a man. He looked about seventeen, staring down at me with piercing blue eyes. I stare back, shocked into silence that he was speaking to me. Despite being from the Seam, he was quite good-looking. His attractive features didn't hide the malicious smile on his face, though.

I'm frozen, not sure how to reply. I was fairly sure I didn't know this man. We stare at each other for a few seconds longer than necessary, till he clicks his tongue and speaks again.

"I asked you a question, _Madge._" How did he know my name? I momentarily forget that I am the mayor's daughter – that everyone knows my name, especially people who were still at school.

"I'm lost." I don't see the point in lying. He might be able to help me get back to the town, although I wasn't sure that I wanted his help.

"Oh dear!" He throws in his hands up in mock horror. "The poor Townie has got lost in the big scary Seam." There it was again. That nickname. I stand up and shoot a glare at him before turning on my heel and walking away. The stranger waits a few moments before calling after me,

"You're going the wrong way." I stop walking and look at him expectantly.

"Show me where to go, then." Perhaps I should've been scared of him, but I was too annoyed to be.

"Ah, perfect. I'll walk you home, shall I?" He shoots a cocky smile at me, although it is not friendly. Who is this man?

"No." I reply. "Just show me which direction the town is." I try to sound forceful, but I can't help but admit that he made me a little nervous. I hoped it didn't show in my voice.

"Ah, but Madge, that won't do at all." He replies, folding his arms, still smiling that horrible smile.

"If I walk with you, will you take me straight to the town?" I ask, giving in. I didn't know him, but he might be my only home of getting home before dark. The light was already starting to go.

"Much better. Of course, my dear Madge," he crows. I walk towards him hesitantly, and he offers me his arm, which I refuse. He drops his arm to his side, but walks close to me, closer than I'd like, but I say nothing. He tries to ask me questions at first, but I remain silent. He gives up eventually, but walks closer to me. I can see that he knows that it makes me uncomfortable, and he seems to be taking pleasure in it.

We reach the town after a long walk, we reappear in the plaza, outside the Justice Building. I thank him, though not without slight anger in my voice.

"I'll see you around, Madge." He smirks as he says this, and a shiver runs up my spine. What exactly did that mean?

I walk quickly to my house, my head bowed, staring at the ground. I nearly bump headfirst into the person waiting for me. I look up as I enter my street, only to find Gale there. He's leaning against a post, staring at the sky again. My fists clench as I get nearer, as it becomes apparent that he's here for me.

"What do you want?" I ask as soon as I'm a few metres away from him. I stop walking, not wanting to get any closer.

"I was wondering…" He looks down at his feet for a moment, confusion passing over his features. "What were you doing with Zach?"

"Huh?" His question surprises me. I expected a snide remark about my dress or something, not this. Who was Zach?

Gale continues to look at his feet, then back up at me.

"That boy from the Seam, who walked you to the town. Why were you with him?" He asks again.

"Uh…" Was it worth bothering to tell him? He looked like he had been waiting here for a while, so I answered him.

"I was lost, and he offered to help me get to the town."

"Is that all?" I couldn't believe how nosy he was being.

"What's it to you?" I snap. Why couldn't Gale just leave me alone?

He doesn't reply, but looks at me again before he starts walking away. Just as I'm about to demand that he tells me why he waited here just to ask me about Zach, he speaks again.

"You might want to… Stay away from him. He's bad, Madge." Gale looks at me again, and I might have imagined it, but he sounded concerned. Why would Gale Hawthorn be concerned about _me_?

I don't say anything. What could I say?

I turn and go up the steps to my house, and shut the door firmly behind me. Who was I kidding? Of course he wasn't concerned about me. Although, maybe he was right about Zach… He did seem pretty creepy.

As soon as I sit on my bed, I realise that I'm exhausted. The reaping, getting lost, Zach, Gale… It had been a long day. I manage to kick my shoes off and dress in an old t-shirt and some pyjama shorts before collapsing on my bed and falling asleep.

**Sooo, what did you think? Read and review please! Reviews make my day! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ouch guys, the lack of reviews is hurting me. You can write anything, I don't mind if it's praise or criticisms – just someone write something, kay? :(**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 4**

I wake just like the previous morning – my father knocking on the door. This time, he comes in to see me. He glances at the crumpled, dirty dress on the floor and sighs.

"Good morning, Madge." He says, not quite looking me in the eye.

"Morning, father." I yawn and stretch, raising my arms above my head. They hit the wall behind me and I curse my clumsiness silently, rubbing my knuckles which had begun to ache.

"Madge… Where did you go yesterday? You didn't come back to the house after the reaping." He still wouldn't look at me properly. I sighed, and for some reason, didn't want to admit to him that I had been in the Seam. I sensed that he wouldn't let me go back there – important girls from the Town weren't meant to be in places like that. They didn't belong there.

"I went for a walk." I reply, picking at the fraying hem at the bottom of my t-shirt. I knew I wasn't a great liar, but neither was he.

"Well, I spoke to Darius yesterday… He said he saw you walking with a boy?" I relax. Ah, good, he hadn't seen me in the Seam. Just with Zach.

"I, uh, had to ask him for directions." I say, before I can stop myself.

"Why? You know the town well." He asks, looking at me oddly. I could tell he thought I was lying.

"I was walking, and thinking about Katniss, and I-" I hadn't been expecting myself to choke up here. Katniss and I had had sort of been friends, sure, but it wasn't like we were best friends or anything.

My father isn't good with emotions, even worse with comforting. He nods and takes my silence for an answer, leaving without another word. I lie back down on the bed, feeling tired despite having slept late. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep for another hour or two.

* * *

When I wake, my father has gone to work. The house is empty, aside from Toby downstairs, but I can't hear him.

I get up slowly, and dress in comfy clothes, an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt and jacket, old shoes. I have nothing to do today, seeing as it's Saturday, so no school. Normally I would read, cook or play my piano or something, but today I felt like going out, which was unusual. I went downstairs and received a cup of tea from Toby. We exchanged pleasantries but nothing more than that. I sat at the island in the kitchen as I sipped my tea, and thought about where I would go today.

The town bored me. I knew it well, and besides, I didn't want to go past the bakery again, and be reminded of our tributes who were probably on their way to the Capitol. The Seam was out of the question – I didn't want to bump into Zach, or worse, Gale.

I wondered how Gale was doing. He had just lost his friend and hunting partner – and I had overheard the girls at school gossiping on whether Katniss and him were an item or not. I really had no idea, but wouldn't be surprised if he liked her. I could see them together.

I shake my head, trying to get rid of thoughts of Gale. What did I care about his love life? In fact, what did I care about him? I snort, and get up from the counter. I go through to the sitting room, where reruns from the reaping are playing on the TV which has been muted. I sit on the sofa in front of it, not wanting to be here, but knowing tat I had missed yesterday's showings. Besides, I was kind of interested this year – I wanted to know who my friend would be up against.

I sat there, watching the tributes be chosen or volunteer, trying to size each one up as an opponent, but I don't know anything about this kind of stuff, so I give up after District Five's tributes.

I make myself watch the reaping, to hear Prim's screams again, and Peeta looking more scared than I had ever seen. I watch he and Katniss shake hands, and retreat into the Justice Building. They must have edited out the salute for the reruns.

I hug a cushion to my chest, wondering what was happening right now to them. Were they still on the train to the Capitol, or were they already there, being prepared to look their best? I didn't know, and decided to try to stop thinking about it. I needed to take my mind off everything that was going on, I needed to be occupied with something. I get up and leave through the back door without bothering to mention to Toby where I was going or when I would be back. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, I had no idea.

* * *

It's not sunny today, and grey clouds cover the sky. I draw my jacket closer around me, and wish I'd picked something warmer. Instead of heading to the Seam or the Town, I had walked to the fence that shut us off from the outside, the unknown.

Apparently it was electrified, or so the sign said on it, but I doubted it. However when I sat down, I kept myself a good two metres away from it, just in case.

It was quiet here. I could still see the buildings of the Seam in the distance, but was for away enough for it to be tranquil. I was fairly sure I knew my way back – I didn't want to bump into creepy Zach again.

I didn't really know what I was doing here. Maybe it would be a good place to read or something? Other than that, I couldn't think of anything interesting to do.

I lay back in the grass and look up, wondering if I could spot any oddly shaped clouds, but the sky is grey, not a hint of blue showing through. I sigh and roll onto my front and shut my eyes, not really thinking about anything. Instead, I let my mind go blank, which was a nice change from over thinking everything.

After what might have been minutes or hours, I sit up, and brush the leaves from my hair. I'm colder than before, partly because evening is closing in, and partly because of lying on the cold ground for so long. I stand up and brush my clothes down before setting off back towards my house, which I manage to reach without getting lost and having to ask for directions.

As I come near to my street, I notice someone standing on the pavement, alone. As I draw nearer I think that it may be Gale waiting for me again, and am about to yell something abusive in their direction, but stop myself when I realise it is not him, but Zach.

_Shit. What do I do?_ I think. Surely he wasn't here for me? And how did he know where I lived?

I try to walk past quickly, head bowed, but I am unsuccessful.

"Hey Madge. Fancy seeing you here," Zach drawls. I pretend to not hear him, despite the fact that the street is silent and we are only a few metres away form each other, and keep walking.

"Aw, Madge, don't ignore me." He says. I turn and look behind me and flinch. He's much closer than I thought – he must have followed me. He takes a step forward when I turn round, and I take a step back. He frowns for a second, but then returns to smirking at me.

"Why are you here, Zach?" I ask, trying to sound firm. His smirk grows and he rocks back on his heels, looking away for a second.

"Ash, so you know my name now? Looks like I'm getting a bit of a reputation." I stare at my feet, refusing to meet his gaze.

"You haven't answered my question." I reply. He moves closer to me, and this time, I don't move away again, trying to stand my ground.

"Ah, Madge, various reasons." He says, leaning closer and placing his hand under my chin, tilting my head up so that I have to look at him. All previous anger instantly disappears, to be replaced by fear. I didn't like him touching me, but I felt frozen. I wanted to slap his hand away and run to my house, but I couldn't move from fear. Why did he scare me so much?

"Don't touch me." I manage to whisper. He chuckles slightly, and leans even closer. My eyes widen and I stiffen as he moves his hand to my shoulder, just touching my neck.

"Madge…" He murmurs, pinching a strand of my hair between his thumb and forefinger.

"Don't touch me!" I repeat, taking a step back this time, my muscles beginning to work again. The smile is gone from his face, to be replaced by coldness.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll play by my rules." He growls, advancing forward again. I take a few more steps back. His rules? What did that mean?

Just as Zach was about to speak again, a voice interrupted him.

"She said to not touch her, Zach." My head whips round to the source of the voice. Surely that couldn't be-?

Gale steps out of the darkness, a grim expression set on his face, his brown eyes cold and hard. Zach pauses, looking slightly confused. He looks from me to him, him to me, then sighs and pushes his hair away from his face.

"See you tomorrow, Undersee." He smiles at me, turns and walks away, just like that.

I breathe a sigh of relief and sit on the pavement quickly. Gale doesn't move.

"Why are you here?" I ask, not looking at him. I hear him sit next to me, and I look up at him. He keeps a good distance between us.

"I saw that he was heading this way, towards your area, and followed him. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't… Hurt you." He looks away from me as he says this, which is lucky for me as I feel a slight blush appear on my cheeks, which I am disgusted at. Nevertheless, it was the first time a boy had been concerned about me.

"Why do you care?" I mean to sound harsh, but it comes out softer than I want. He shakes his head and looks at the ground for a few seconds, then stands up and walks away without another word.

After a few minutes of trying to process what just happened, I get up, and enter my house. Dinner is waiting for me on the table, left by Toby – my Dad doesn't eat with me, not anymore. He has too much work for that.

I eat it quickly, not really tasting it, just wanting to get up to my room. However, before I can do that, Toby comes into the room, and leans against the door frame, eyeing me warily.

"Madge, where have you been?" He asks. I want to lie, but I just can't.

"I was by the fence." If he's surprised, he doesn't show it.

"Why?"

"I don't know." I answer truthfully. He nods.

"You be careful, alright? He says, taking my plate from me, which I snatch back instantly. He knows that I don't like having the table cleared for me. We walk to the kitchen together in silence, where I begin to wash up. He watches me for a while, before sighing and leaving me to it. Once I'm finished, I go upstairs and have a shower, letting the hot water relax me. I try not to think about what has happened this evening, and for once, it works. I pick out an old book of mine and read until I fall asleep mid sentence, the book still in my hand as I dreamed of nothing.

**Really not sure where I'm going with this, oh well. I know Madge seems kind of unhappy right now, but I think that's understandable. When she and Gale get closer I promise she'll be a lot more positive ^^**

**Read and most definitely review! I'm going to wait for a few reviews to come in before I write the next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Awh thankyou for the lovely reviews guys! You're so sweet~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters, blah blah blah**

**Chapter 5**

I wake up in a daze, for once having not been woken by my father's irritating knocking. I notice the book in my hand and sigh, letting it drop to the floor beside my bed. I pull the covers over me and go back to sleep for a little bit longer.

"Madge?" It was Toby. He opened the door slightly and peered inside my room. Grumbling, I sat up to face him, running my fingers through my knotted, messy hair. He smiles at this and comes in with a cup of tea, as per usual.

"Here." He says as he hands it to me, then sits next to me with his own mug. I yawn and accept the tea gratefully – I hadn't got much sleep last night from all that reading., and I needed something to wake me up.

"Don't you have homework or something?" He asks suddenly. "I mean, your father mentioned it this morning, to make sure that you're doing. I mean I get that you're a good student and everything he was just concerned that…"

Toby was babbling, I point this out to him and he stops talking. He obviously didn't like having to tell me to do my homework, like I was a little kid.

"What are you, my mom?" I say loudly, and smile a bit, before realising what I've just said. I stop talking and listen, making sure that we haven't disturbed my mother in the next room.

"She's had her morphling." Toby whispered, nudging me with his elbow. "Anyway, your Dad is just concerned, what with you… Going out so often recently." It was my turn to nudge him.

"Toby, I went for a walk. That's all."

"Twice? Till dark?"

"Uh… Yes." I mutter, staring at the floor. I really was a terrible liar, but to be honest I hadn't really lied that much. I had gone for a walk both times, it's just certain unexpected things happened while I was walking, which were not my fault.

"Are you going out again today?" He asks, trying to sound firm. I smile at him and say, "we'll see." Before downing the rest of my tea and handing him the mug. I stand up and go to my dressing table and begin combing out the tugs from my hair. Toby sighs, but he is smiling as he leaves to let me get dressed.

Today I remember to wear a warmer jacket, this one with some kind of fur lining the inside. I take some gloves too, just to be safe.

I did have homework though, Toby and my father were unfortunately right. I pick up my school back and empty its contents on my desk, examining my planner which I recorded all my assignments and homework in. I didn't have too much actually, just Maths and English, both of which I was okay at, but I was better at English.

I worked quietly, not moving from my desk for a good two hours. Toby brought me tea on a regular basis, which helped me keep going.

Eventually I'm finished, and I put the work back in my back which I return to its regular place by my bedside table. I stretch and stand up straight, feeling my joints pop occasionally. I sigh and swing my arms slightly, trying to feel energized, but to be honest, all that tea had made me sleepy. I lie on my bed with my book from last night for a few minutes, and before I know it, I'm asleep again.

Toby wakes me up for lunch, which I've missed for the past few days. Oops.

I eat quickly, eager to go out again. I wanted to take my book to the spot by the fence, where it was so quiet. Toby watches me inhale my sandwiches and soup, with one eyebrow raised.

"And why are you in such a hurry, Madge?" He asks, smiling slightly.

"I'm going out." I reply, downing my juice in one gulp.

"Have you done all your homework?" He asks, smiling more. He was enjoying this far too much.

"Yes I have!" I say defiantly, proud that I'd finished all my work by now.

"Alright then. But be back for dinner, okay?"

"I'll try"

I pick up my book from the table and leave out the back door. It's cloudy again today, much to my disappointment, and colder. I wouldn't be able to stay out for so long today.

I walk quickly, wishing that summer could happen sooner. It was meant to spring, so why was it so cold? I shiver inside my jacket, and hurry to my spot. I can see the fence now, and after what seems like forever, I reach it.

I sit down and pull my book from my pocket. I couldn't remember where I had finished last, so I just started reading on a page that seemed familiar.

I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually I had to put my book away when a drop of water fell onto the page. I looked up, and another drop hit my face, rolling down my cheek slowly.

_Oh no. _

I stand up and shove the book in my pocket hastily. I'm just about to start walking quickly back to my house (I wouldn't run, I would tire quickly and probably fall over a few times) when a voice stops me.

"Madge?" I turn around, and yelp in surprise. It was Gale, but he was on the other side of the fence.

"What're you doing?" I hiss, taking a step closer to the fence.

"I could ask you the same thing." His eyes narrow as he speaks to me, but he doesn't glare at me like he usually does.

"I came here to read." I say waving my book at him. The rain is falling faster now, and I want to get home.

"I came here to hunt." He says. I knew that perfectly well – I knew where my father's strawberries came from. But it was still a shock to see him here, on the other side of the fence, breaking the Capitol Laws.

_I really do sound like a Townie, _I think to myself. I inwardly groan when I realise I've used that horrible nickname for myself.

"Oh." Is all I can manage to say. He begins to jog along the edge of the fence, away from me.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I call after him, but he doesn't reply. Further up, he slips under the fence. I gasp slightly and wait for the electricity to zap him, but he pulls himself out on the other side, completely unharmed. I pause and check the sign – it definitely says electrified, 24 hours a day, high voltage, etc. etc.

I shrug and wait for him as he jogs back up to me.

"I, uh, I'm gonna go home now." I say, turning around and starting to walk.

"Wait!" He says. I look back at him over my shoulder.

"It's getting dark." He continues, looking away from me, over at the Seam. "Would you like me to walk with you? Just in case Zach is there again?"

I nod gratefully. Any protection from Zach would be good, even if it was from someone annoying as Gale. Who for some reason, wasn't being as annoying today. I shrug again and wait for him to catch up with me before we set off.

Our arms brush occasionally, but unlike when I was with Zach, it feels… It feels not horrible. That was the only way I could put it. But I didn't stop it, and I didn't want to.

"How long have you been going there to the fence to read?" He asks, about a minute after we've started walking. I can tell he's looking at me, but I won't meet his gaze.

"Well, I went there yesterday for a bit… But I didn't take my book, I only did that today." I say, wanting to hit myself. I sounded utterly moronic, and Gale probably thought so too.

Unexpectedly, he smiles slightly.

"Why do you sit so far from the fence?"

"Oh. Uh… Well, it's electrified, isn't it?" I knew the answer to this question already, I had seen Gale crawl under the fence and come out fine on the other side. Gale snorts as I say this.

"You really need to stop sounding like someone from the town so much." I notice he avoids using the nickname, but I ignore it. His comment still angers me, but he hasn't finished. "It's never electrified, or barely ever. You can hear it if it's on." I don't like the way he's looking at me. Patronizing, like he was better than me. Just as I'm about to start throwing angry comments at him, I realise where we are – on the edge of the town.

I touch his arm with my hand and pull him slightly away from the open area. It's started raining properly now, and his jacket sleeve is slightly damp. He stiffens at my touch and follows me.

"We can't be seen together." I explain as I walk, dragging him behind me. I let go of his arm once I know he's following me.

"Are you really scared of what the people from there will say about you?" He asks, almost gently.

"I'm not scared of that." I snap. "I'm scared that someone will tell my father, who is the Mayor if you haven't forgotten, that I am walking around with a boy from the _Seam._" I say the word 'Seam' like its dirt in my mouth, but wish I hadn't as soon as I say it. I don't really dislike the Seam, but… Society dictates that I should hate the Seam, and that I should feel like I'm above them all. But I don't hate the Seam, I really don't. But I don't know how to explain this to Gale after saying that.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." I say quickly.

"Sure, sure." He mutters, not looking at me. I sigh, and wish I had never said anything. Despite Gale being incredibly frustrated, I didn't want him to be angry with me.

"I really didn't mean it…" I say quietly, wondering why my voice sounds so small and sad. Did I really care that much that I had hurt Gale, of all people?

"It's ok." We've stopped walking, and I look up at him, and he returns my gaze. I think he means it this time, although I'm not sure.

"Will you be ok from here?" We're on my street, but not too close to my house.

"I'll be fine. Thank you for walking me here, I…" I shudder at the thought of Zach, of what happened here the night before, when he touched my face and my shoulder.

Gale looks as if he's about to move closer to me, offer some comfort or something, but he stops himself.

"Well… Goodnight, Madge." He says. I feel like I should hug him or something but I don't, seeing as I'm meant to hate his guts. Meant to. Why don't I any more?

"Thanks again Gale. Night" I turn and walk quickly to my house, up the steps and through the front door. I'm here slightly earlier than last night, and it's not quite dark yet. However, my hair is dripping, my clothes damp. Toby takes one look at me and smiles.

"And where have you been today, Madge, hmmm? I hope these little walks aren't going to interrupt school tomorrow, are they?" I smile back at this, in an oddly good mood.

"Of course not, Toby." I smile angelically and make my way to the dinner table. He gives up pretty quickly, knowing that I'm too good a student to skip school.

I eat my dinner quickly, then go upstairs and have a shower to warm myself up. As I dry my hair with a towel, I start to think about Gale. Tonight he was… Different. Almost caring. I didn't understand him at all – one minute he's insulting me, the next, he's walking me home so that I can be safe from Zach. It didn't make any sense to me.

I sigh, and change into my pyjamas. How did I feel about Gale? Just yesterday, I would have instantly said that I hated him. But now… I wasn't so sure. I still didn't like the fact that he separated me from the Seam, and acted like I'm stuck up and full of myself, which I thought I wasn't. I didn't dislike him anymore… I just didn't really know anything right now.

I didn't bother to read that night – I went to sleep quickly, and dreamed of the forest that lies beyond the fence.

**Soooo I gave you guys a nice long chapter with lots of Gadge, so read and review please!**

**I don't want it to go too fast… I want Gale to be all distant for a bit because he's upset because Katniss has left. So I'm sorry if there's not too much Gadge in the next few chapters or so, but I'll try to update regularly ^^**


	6. Chapter 6

**To be honest, the only reason I've been updating so much is because I should be doing revision right now D: Oh, and sorry about making Gale's eyes brown when apparently they're actually grey – I promise they'll be grey from now on!**

**Chapter 6**

Today I'm woken up by my alarm clock, which I manage to knock off my bedside table while attempting to switch it off. Unfortunately this doesn't stop it from beeping, so I have to get up to fix it.

I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. School was going to be a lot less enjoyable now that Katniss was gone.

I pull on some clothes, not really bothering to look if they match or are even appropriate for school, and head downstairs for breakfast. I yawn and stretch as I take my place at the table, which is otherwise empty. My father must have left early for work.

I take some cereal and am halfway through my bowl when Toby comes through with my tea, which I gratefully accept. I didn't know why I liked tea so much, I just did. It helped me wake up in the morning.

"Morning." I manage to say to Toby through another yawn.

"Good morning," he replies, sitting opposite me. "Madge, why is your shirt on the wrong way?"

I look down and realise that he's right. I groan and head upstairs to change, feeling exhausted already. I pick up my bag from its usual spot and prepare to leave.

* * *

I sit alone at lunch, but I didn't really expect anything else. Normally Katniss would be here with me, but not today. And maybe never again.

I don't really mind sitting on my own, considering that no one really talks about me enough to care. However, my quiet lunch is ruined when I see a tall boy coming towards me. At first I think that it's Gale, but it was someone much worse.

"Hey, Madge." Zach says coolly as he sits opposite me, flashing me a smile. Just like last time, I noticed that it wasn't a friendly smile. It was an over-confident, nasty smile and I hated it.

"Leave me alone, Zach." I say, staring at the food in front of me, no longer hungry.

"Ouch, Undersee." He says, pretending to be hurt. "What kind of a hello is that?"

I toy with my apple, picking the skin away slowly. He continues talking when I don't attempt a reply.

"I said I would see you yesterday, but you disappeared. Where did you go, hmm?" He leans closer to me, and I resist the urge to flinch as I feel his breath on my face.

"I stayed in my house all day." I reply. Why couldn't he leave me alone?

"Sure you did, Madge." He still doesn't sound angry, he sounds kind of… Happy. He's enjoying this. Enjoying tormenting me, watching me squirm and feel uncomfortable.

I get up to put my tray away, not looking at him as I walk past, but he grabs my arm. I flinch and pull away, not wanting him to touch me. I very nearly drop my tray in the process.

"I'll come sit with you tomorrow, then." He says, that horrible smile still fixed to his face. I shake my head and manage to stutter the word 'no'.

"What was that, Madge? I couldn't quite hear you. Oh well, we'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. I'm sure you'd love that, wouldn't you Madge?" Zach stands, and brushes a strand of hair away from my face. I slap his hand away, but can't hide the fact that I'm scared to do so. I'm sure that he can see it in my eyes.

"It's a date." He says softly, smirking at me.

"It is not." I snarl back, before pushing him away with one hand. He isn't expecting it, so the force of it makes him take a step back to steady himself. This only makes him smile more.

"Stay away from me!" I yell over my shoulder as I walk quickly away. I dump my tray and leave, wishing that Katniss was here to sit with me again.

I notice that Gale isn't at school today. His usual spot with his friends is empty – did they allow that? Was it because of Katniss?

When I think about that, about Gale and Katniss, I feel something uncomfortable twist inside me. I assumed it to be sadness from my friend having left. Tomorrow, we would watch to find out the training scores.

* * *

The rest of the day is a blur. Zach doesn't bother me again, and I manage to make the walk home without bumping into anyone, which is a relief. My teachers didn't assign us any homework, because it was the Games, and we were expected to be watching instead of doing important things like working.

I suddenly feel anxious as soon as I think this, hoping I didn't accidentally say it out loud. The street was empty anyway, so even if I had, no one would have heard. I was lucky.

I take my book that I have nearly finished and sit on the steps by the back door of my house to read, despite it still being cloudy. I wrap a big blanket round myself to keep warm, and read till dinner.

Toby calls me in for dinner, which is awkward and uncomfortable, seeing as my father has managed to make it home in time for a family meal, which is unusual. We make small talk, but it's strained.

"_Hello, Dad."_

"_Hello, Madge."_

"_How're you?" _

"_Fine, you?" _

"_Good." _

Perhaps I should have said something to him about how I was actually feeling – that I was worried because Zach wouldn't leave me alone, that Gale had been acting oddly, that Katniss was gone from my life, and I couldn't get my friend back. But instead, like always, I said I was good. The conversation had ended there.

* * *

After dinner, I go and retrieve the blanket and my book which I had left outside on the stairs. Just as I'm about to stand up and go back inside, someone calls my name.

"Madge?" A figure steps out from the trees that line my garden.

"Gale?" I gasp, quickly checking behind me to make sure that my father or Toby haven't heard. But my father has shut himself in his office, and Toby is doing the washing up.

"What're you doing here?" I hiss. He comes closer, so that he's at the bottom of the steps.

"I wanted to make sure that you're okay." He says quietly, not looking at me. This surprises me.

"What? Why?" I ask, regretting it when I realise how sharp my voice is.

"With Zach and everything… He didn't bother you today or anything, did you?" He asks, shifting from one foot to another. I bite my lip, wondering how much should I tell him. In fact, why should I tell him?

_Because he's just being nice, he's looking out for you. _A small voice inside my head says.

"I…" Now it's my turn to look away. "He… He sat with me at lunch, and…"

"Did he touch you?" Gale almost sounds angry.

"He touched my arm when I walked away, but…" Gale had stiffened, and was now looking at me. He looked pissed off, but not how he is with me.

"Why do you care?" I can't stop the words leaving my mouth. "What am I worth to you?" He looks up at me, all previous anger gone – now he looks… Sad.

"I don't want him to hurt you, Madge." He says quietly. I take a step closer, so that there's only about half a meter between us. His grey eyes look into mine, and I don't know how to respond. I want to ask why, I want to know more, but instead I just stare at him.

Finally, he reaches out, and touches my cheek gently. Despite being on a step and him being on the ground, we're eyelevel to each other. I hope desperately that I don't blush, as it was something I tended to do all the time.

Gale left his hand there for a few seconds longer, before sighing and pulling away. As he turns to leave, I call after him,

"Wait! Will you come to school tomorrow?"

Gale doesn't reply immediately, and stops to think about it.

"Is Zach going to sit with you at lunch again?" He answers my question with another, and this annoys me, but I try not to show it.

"I think so. He said he would…"

"Then I'll come." He doesn't wait for my reply, and leaves quickly, ducking under the trees. And then he's gone.

**I'm hoping to properly begin their relationship soon :D**

**Remember to review, your reviews are amazing and awesome and they make me so happy ^^ **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ouch guys, the lack of reviews is hurting me! :c I'm gonna be evil and say no more updates till we hit ten reviews or a few more, kay **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters, I do however own Zach ;)**

**Chapter 7 **

Today, the weather is nice again, which puts me in a fairly good mood for school, despite everything that happens.

I don't pay attention to what's happening in school, I just answer questions and do my work silently. No one speaks to me, and I don't try to speak to anyone.

However, lunch is different. I can feel that my palms are sweaty, and I constantly look around myself, checking to make sure that Zach wasn't heading for my table.

Just when I begin to relax and allow myself to focus on eating, I hear someone slide in next to me.

"Hello, Madge." Zach says, moving closer to me. I want to shuffle away, but I'm already on the edge of the seat. I decide that it's better to ignore him than talk to him, so I try to look unfazed, and keep eating my lunch.

"Aw, Madge, what's with the cold treatment?" Zach asks, poking me, a little harder than necessary. I answer by shaking my head, and start picking at my roll. He appears to give up for now.

"Zach, what're you doing here?" Gale comes and sits opposite me, not trying to hide how annoyed he his.

"I'm just sitting with Madge here. We're having a nice cozy chat, aren't we?" He nudges me in the ribs, again, harder than necessary. I flinch at his touch, and wish for the millionth time that he would just leave me alone.

"I don't think she likes you talking to her." Gale says, his voice hard. Although I'm happy that he's standing up for me, I don't like being told how I think. But I don't say anything, because with Gale here, I might get a chance to eat my lunch without Zach.

"I think you shouldn't speak for her like that." Zach replies quickly, his voice equally hard. I grip the edge of the table, hoping desperately that this won't turn into a big argument.

"Madge?" Gale says, his voice slightly softer. "Do you want Zach to sit with you?" I wait a few moments before I reply, refusing to look at either of them. Finally, I manage to say,

"no." My voice is small and scared, which annoys me. I had wanted to sound fierce and confident.

"See?" Gale's leaning over the table now, glowering at Zach. "Go. Away." Without another word, Zach stands up quickly, and stomps away. He slaps his tray down angrily where they're dropped off, and slams the door when he leaves. I don't realise that I've been holding my breath till this happens, and I finally exhale slowly, feeling myself relax slowly.

It's quiet for a bit. Neither of us speak, eat, or look at each other. It's awkward, and it gets worse with every minute that passes. Just as I'm about to speak, maybe to thank Gale for getting rid of Zach, he speaks, and I don't bother to interrupt him.

"I should go." This is the last thing I expect. I look up at him, and notice that he's not looking at me – he's looking around me, at the other people in the room eating their lunches. I realise that it's gone quiet – not silent, but it's noticeable.

I then notice that the majority of the occupants of the closest tables are staring at us. It doesn't take me long to get it – the mayor's daughter is not only sitting with a guy, but a guy from the Seam. And not just any guy, it was Gale, the one that so many girls were after, or so I'd heard. What would they be thinking right now?

"Oh. I get it." I say, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. Why am I disappointed? This is Gale. He wasn't even my friend – I had no idea what he was. He drove me insane sometimes, but other times… I wanted to be around him. I didn't understand it at all.

Without another word, Gale gets up and leaves. I wait for a few moments, feeling anger bubble up inside me as I continue to toy with my roll.

Why did he bother to get rid of Zach and make all that effort when he cares so much about his image? About what people say about him? Surely he didn't mind, I never expected him to be one of those people. But clearly he was, and that bothered me a lot.

For once, I'm dreading leaving school, and getting home. It means that I'll have to watch the scores, and find out exactly what Katniss and Peeta are up against.

I drop my bag in the hall and shrug off my jacket, before flopping onto the sofa which sits in front of our TV. I switch it on, and it goes straight to the scores. Claudius begins with an introductory speech, which I ignore, choosing to think instead.

Unfortunately, my thoughts wander to Gale.

_What an asshole. _

I don't understand why I've become so angry recently – perhaps it's because of Katniss leaving, and feeling truly alone again at school. Not that I mind it much, but it's… different.

I decide that if I see him tomorrow, I'll give him a piece of my mind. Set him straight. Confront him, and wipe that stupid look off his face, the one that conveyed the whole 'I'm better than you' thing he had going on. If he called me a Townie again, I might hit him. The only thing was, I didn't know how – I wasn't exactly a violent person. Maybe this newfound anger would help me.

I pay attention again when they begin reading out the scores. The careers receive their usual high numbers of eights, nines, and occasional tens. A small, dark girl from Eleven catches my attention for a moment with her seven. And then it's Twelve's turn, and I feel by breathing become faster.

Peeta manages an eight, which is impressive, considering the District he comes from. This allows me to relax a bit, but at the same time, it gives me a reason to tense up. Does this mean that the careers will target him?

And then it's Katniss's turn. I grip the edge of the sofa, wishing, hoping that she does well. Everyone knows that she can shoot, surely that counted for something?

Claudius pauses before he reads out her score, a look of confusion flashing across his face for a brief moment, and I swear my heart skips a beat. Was it really that bad?

And then there's an eleven showing on the screen, and I breathe a huge sigh of relief, not being able to help the smile that spreads across my face. An eleven! I knew she could do it.

**I'm sorry, I know this is short :c remember to review! Reviews = updates ;)**

**See you at ten reviews! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Woooooooooooo update **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 8**

School isn't good anymore. Zach doesn't sit with me, for fear of Gale, who is bigger and stronger than him. Gale doesn't sit with me, for fear of what people will say about him. He's not at lunch again on Wednesday, which despite all my anger towards him worries me slightly. Only slightly though. Would the school care that he had missed two days?

Zach however is present. He sits with two of his friends, and he talks to them, but he's always looking at me. He doesn't smile when he does this, still sore from his encounter with Gale yesterday. I don't see why he should be - I didn't ask Gale to come over and defend me, did I?

Lessons are boring as usual. Occasionally they roll in an old, battered TV so that we can watch the updates on the Games - the odds, the scores, who's being bet on, who's rooting for which tribute, the favourites, the ones who are expected to be killed on the first day.

I don't watch these showings; I sit with my head bowed, and doodle pictures on the front of my notepad. They aren't of anything, just swirls and patterns. I don't often draw anymore, but on Wednesday, it helped me ignore the fact that my friend would begin her fight to the death tomorrow.

_Or to victory_, a small voice in my head says before I can stop it. I was torn between supporting my friend and hoping for her victory, and expecting the worst so that when it came, it wouldn't hurt so much. So instead, I ignored what they showed in school, and endured what was shown at home.

My father wasn't at dinner, and I wasn't surprised. However, Toby is as chatty as ever, and manages to cheer me up a bit with his constant positive attitude.

Although he was just here to cook and clean because of my mother's condition and my father's absence, Toby was also my friend. He kept me company in the house when I was there, which was most of the time - however, because I had gone out more often recently, I hadn't seen him so much, and it was nice to talk to him at dinner. I would be much more lonely if he wasn't here, and I mentally thanked my father for hiring such a friendly, cheerful person.

I had never considered Toby as a romantic interest. I had briefly thought about it, but laughed at the idea. He was just a friend, and considering I saw him every day, a romance would surely over-complicate my life. Besides, he was quite a few years older than me; I guessed about twenty-one, as I had never asked him. I was only seventeen.

When I lay down in my bed that night, I start a new book. This one was larger, with a finer print, and so would take me longer to finish, which was good, as I had decided to bring books with me to school at lunch. It would serve as a good distraction from Zach staring at me from across the room, and Gale's empty seat, which caused his friends to whisper and look in my direction.

What was it that made him miss school? Was it because the scores had come out yesterday and that Katniss's eleven would surely make her a target? I know he had got angry yesterday over what happened at lunch, but I couldn't see how that could make him not want to see me to the point of missing school.

I sigh, put my book on my bedside table, and switch off my lamp.

_Guys are so confusing. _

* * *

I eat my breakfast quickly the next day, downing my tea in a few long gulps. Toby watches this with raised eyebrows, but doesn't say anything. I grab my bag from its usual spot in my bedroom and call out a goodbye to my father as I walk past his office.

I decide once I'm outside that my reasonably good mood is due to the continued warm weather. The sky is blue, and there are only a few clouds, none of which cover the sun, which is very warm, but not hot.

Once I've walked for five minutes or so, I take off my jacket and stuff it in my bag, revealing my grey t-shirt that was one of my favourites. It was one size too big and so was loose and comfortable, and hung lower than my other shirts.

For once, my lessons fly by. My first one is history, which although is repetitive with its constant topics on the Uprisings and District 13, it can be quite interesting. I enjoy learning about North America, the country that once was what Panem is now. It had laws and customs which were so different to now, and what was the best was that it had no Hunger Games. No death on their TV screens, and although I found it hard to imagine, I enjoyed the idea.

Even better, my next lesson before lunch was English. I was lucky enough to have got one of the few teachers in our school who is passionate about what they teach Plus, I was good at it, so she liked me. The teacher was eccentric in her own way, though nothing so unusual that the other kids would laugh at her. She was respected, and her students mostly listened in class, which was more than I could say for the behaviour and attention span of my fellow students in the classes.

After English it was lunch, which I was actually looking forward to. I sat in my usual place with my book, and just as I was searching for where I had picked up, something caught my eye.

Gale's seat wasn't empty today. Luckily it faced away from my table, but his presence still made me feel uncomfortable. At least it didn't make me angry like I thought it would.

After a while I learnt to ignore it, and even Zach staring relentlessly at me from across the room didn't stop me from enjoying my book. For once, I left the lunch room without feeling angry or upset.

Gale didn't approach me during or after school, and I didn't expect him to. He had no reason to speak to me at lunch, considering Zach wasn't there, and I couldn't see why he would need to see me other than that.

Part of me knew that I wanted to talk to him, to see him. But that was only a small part of me - the other part was still full of rage for him leaving yesterday, simply because of where I lived and how much money my father had.

School after lunch was not as pleasant as the morning had been. We sit in the hall and they use a big projector to show the live footage of the beginning of the Games. I'm surprised that Gale is here; or maybe he just wants to see if Katniss will make it out of the initial bloodbath alive.

I decide to opt for hoping that she will at least survive the first few days. When the clock counts down, I hold my breath, and only release it when she has run away into the dense trees with the orange backpack. I had gasped slightly when that girl had thrown the knife at Katniss, and I was not the only one. We watched in silence, and even the teachers did not make any comments. I suppose it was our way of showing some form of respect for her.

We watch the Careers clean out the Cornucopia of its spoils, and various other tributes run as fast as they can away from them. Of course, we see other tributes too. The ones being lifted into the sky by the hovercrafts.

* * *

Later, as I walk home, I decide to bring my book to school the next day, as it provided a perfect distraction from the two guys who were annoying the Hell out of me. They would also be showing the Games whenever they could find an opportunity, so maybe I could hide the book under my desk while it was on.

* * *

I do my homework in the dining room, and Toby chats to me about nothing in particular as he cleans the area around me, which makes the work a bit more bearable. Plus, when he sees the stack of sheets and textbooks I heave out of my backpack, he goes and makes me some tea, and continuously supplies it to me till I'm finished, which is around about half an hour before dinner.

My father doesn't eat with us again, which I suppose is because of the Games starting today. After dinner, Toby and I go sit on the sofa and switch on the TV. After today, we won't be receiving any homework from school, so that we can watch the Games more frequently.

The first person we see is Peeta. I let out a little gasp when I see who he's with – he's with the Careers. Did that make him one of them? Sure, he had scored an eight, but he was from Twelve…

I chew my bottom lip as I watch them. They seem to be looking for something, someone… Who?

"That's her snare back there." Peeta says. "I know it's her."

I couldn't believe it. They were looking for Katniss?

"I don't understand." Toby whispers, his eyes fixed to the screen. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would Peeta do that to Katniss?"

I look at him, surprised by how confused he is. What does he mean?

"You missed the opening ceremony on Sunday, didn't you? And all the interviews?" He's looking at me now.

"Yeah, I was out…" I remember Toby's disapproving stares from the weekend when I got home, and realised why he had been so strict.

_I had missed part of the Games. _I can't help but feel slightly happy about this – it seems so rebellious, so not like me.

Toby paused for a moment, and says "Peeta confessed that he likes Katniss. I don't know how strong his feelings are, but…" He glances back at the TV.

It takes me a few moments to process this. Peeta? Katniss? But Peeta's hunting Katniss for the careers – why would he do that?

I can feel my head start to hurt, so I go and get some water. When I come back, they're showing Katniss. She's in a tree, attached to a branch. She's watching a flickering light in the distance, a fire. She shakes her head in exasperation and looks away, trying to get some sleep. It's not long before the Careers find her.

She only screams once, and it's short. I try to take comfort in the fact that her death was quick, but even so I flinch when the cannon sounds.

As I lay down in bed that night, I start to think about Gale. Surely he knows about what Peeta said at the interviews?

That would explain his bad mood on Sunday. And his absence from school.

I sigh, and switch my light off. He really did like Katniss. I don't know why, but when I realised this, I feel a slight pain twist in my stomach. I didn't understand the feeling, so ignored it, and went to sleep.

**Could Madge be jealous? ;) **

**Read and review! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay, 18 reviews! Thank you guys! ^^**

**Yeah, I've kind of messed up the order of the interviews and stuff, but oh well. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters, but I do own Zach (ew) and Toby (yay!) **

**Chapter 9**

While I sit at the table and eat my breakfast, I decide to go out after school, to the fence where it's quiet. I feel safer there knowing that it isn't electrified most of the time. I could also bring my book there, which I currently had propped up against the milk jug so that I can read it while eating.

Even better, the sun is shining today, and I can walk to school without a jacket. However, I am disturbed from my peaceful walk by an unwelcome sight.

As soon as Zach spots me from across the street, he comes over.

"Hello, Madge." He's smirking as usual, enjoying my tortured expression that I was sure was on my face.

"Zach." I take a deep breath. "You live in the Seam. Why are you here in the Town?" I feel like confronting him is better than ignoring him.

"I felt like a change." He shrugs as he says this like it's just a casual comment, but his nasty smile tells me otherwise. I knew that he had come here for me. The thought makes me shiver slightly, despite the warm sun.

"Zach, I want you to leave me alone." I force myself to look him in the eye. "I don't want to see you or speak to you. I don't like you. Okay?" I'm impressed by how fierce my voice sounds, but it's ruined when he just smiles again.

"Ah, but Madge, I like you." My cheeks are burning with humiliation.

"Stay away from me!" I yell. We've reached the school, and I walk as fast as I can without running inside, away from him. No matter how fast I walk away, I can't drown out his laughter that seems to follow me.

I don't pay attention in my lessons, even in English. I'm still too distressed over what happened with Zach. Surely he knew my father was the mayor? Surely he knew that I could have Peacekeepers knocking on his door by tomorrow?

But if he knew that, then he must also know that I would never be able to do that. I didn't want to think about what kind of punishment he would get - no one deserved the Capitol's punishment.

At lunch, before I can even take out my book, Zach is there, sitting opposite me this time, but I'm not sure if I prefer this or not. It makes it harder for him to touch me, but it also means that he stares at me full on for the entirety of it.

As soon as he starts speaking, I glance desperately towards Gale, who is at his table with his friends. I know that he's seen Zach with me, one of his friends must've pointed it out to him or something. But he makes no move to defend me, even though I'm sure it would be fairly easy for him to scare away Zach.

_Why? _

How could he keep up a grudge this long? Was he really so concerned about his image that he wouldn't help me?

I grip the edge of the table, and my anger helps me ignore Zach's sneers and sarcastic comments.

I find that I have lost my appetite, and stand up. I slam my tray down at the other side of the room and storm out. Even Zach seems surprised, and thankfully doesn't follow me.

I didn't like that I had become so dependant on Gale, how I felt that I needed him whenever Zach was around. I hated his arrogance and how easily he infuriated me, without even saying anything. Simply by being there.

The rest of the afternoon is filled with showings of the Hunger Games. Katniss has run out of water, and she needs to walk with a walking stick. There aren't any good fights happening, so the Capitol are featuring her. I can see that she's thinking as she walks, probably some form of strategy. Although, as the minutes go by, she becomes weaker and weaker. The room becomes silent, and I flinch when she falls onto the ground.

But eventually, much to my relief, she stretches forward and finds water. The Capitol, uninterested now, turns their cameras to the Careers, who still seem to be hunting Katniss, which frightens me as she is still in such a vulnerable state. Luckily, I manage to read instead of watch for a while.

When I get home, I take a cup of tea and switch on the TV. Although I planned on going out, I need to check how Katniss is doing. I don't want to be away if she gets hurt.

Night has fallen in the arena, and she is asleep, strapped to a tree. I comfort myself with the fact that water is close by, until I see an orange light flicker across her face.

_Fire! _

As soon as the heat reaches her, Katniss wakes up. She glances around herself quickly, frightened and disorientated. Finally she has the sense to unstrap herself, and she falls to the ground.

The fire is everywhere, around her, consuming the trees, the plants, everything. I hear someone's breathing pick up behind me, and I know that Toby is standing behind the sofa, watching Katniss run. I myself have my knees tucked under my chin, my arms wrapped round them tightly, as if I'm holding myself together. How could she escape?

She keeps running, running, running, never seeming to get tired. I'm sure it must be the adrenaline, but eventually she stops, sitting down quickly. A fireball whooshes past her suddenly, and she screams, only just managing to roll out of the way. It's followed by another, and she isn't so lucky this time. She screams again as she is burned on her leg, and I flinch, feeling the blood drain away from my face. Toby comes and sits next to me, and I start rocking backwards and forwards slightly. I'm scared, I've never been this scared in my life before.

Despite her burn, Katniss gets up and keeps running. She dodges fireball after fireball until eventually, she's out, and she's collapsed into the water. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and feel Toby relax next to me. She's okay.

I turn away for a second, relief flooding through me as I repeat it over and over in my head.

_She's okay. She escaped. She's okay. _

"There she is!" I quickly turn back to the TV, all previous calmness gone The Careers had found what they were hunting for.

Katniss struggles to get out of the water, and the pain from her burn is evident as she begins to run, lopsided and slower than usual. I guess that she won't be able to run for as long or as quickly as the Careers, and so does she, as she begins climbing a tree. As soon as she's about a third of the way up, the Careers appear at the bottom of the tree, jeering and laughing at her as she climbs, higher and higher. The largest Career, Cato, starts climbing after her. He's got huge muscles which bulge as he hoists himself up onto the branches, and I shudder to think how it would end between him and Katniss in a fight. Toby takes my hand and I grip it tight, only noticing then how loud and quick my breathing is, almost like I'm hyperventilating.

Cato, urged on by the other Careers, climbs higher, closer to Katniss, but suddenly, the branches can't take his massive weight anymore, and one of them snaps. He falls from a high distance, and lands with an almighty crash on the forest floor, but unfortunately seems to be okay.

Glimmer, the girl with blonde hair takes the bow that had been resting against her back and shoots, againa and again into the tree, but always missing Katniss, who plucks one of the arrows out of the tree and waves it at the girl, mocking her. Glimmer looks so angry that she might try and climb up there herself, but then Peeta speaks. I had forgotten about him, hiding away at the back.

"Look, we'll just wait her out. She can't stay up there forever, right?"

I'm shocked. How could Peeta love her one minute and then want to kill her the next? It made no sense. Katniss looks away, and so do I. I release Toby's hand which has gone white from the lack of blood flow. He rubs it and manages a weak smile at me.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I ask in a small voice.

"For a while," he says, glancing back at the screen. "She's got food and water, and none of them can reach her."

This doesn't comfort me in any way, but reassures me that I have time. Time to go out, time to get away from here. I hate seeing Katniss in pain, and I have to look away when she begins inspecting her burns, her face scrunching up in pain as she cleans it.

"I have to go." I say, not remembering to grab my book off the table. "I can't watch this."

"Madge-" Toby begins to protest, but I ignore him, slamming the door behind me. Once I'm outside I begin to run, not caring who sees me. I have to get out, away from the Capitol, away from their tortures and the Games. I can't deal with it, Katniss nearly died twice today.

When I reach the fence I realise that I've forgotten a jacket, and shiver. I don't even have my book. Unexpectedly, I burst into to tears. I don't stop moving, though. I let the ugly sobs escape me as I search along the base of the fence for an opening, becoming more and more desperate as my crying becomes louder and louder. Finally I find it and push myself under, not caring when the rough metal scrapes against my arms, leaving small cuts. I don't even check to see if it's electrified.

And then I'm running, adrenaline surging through me, until I can't run anymore. I sit down in the middle of the forest, my lungs burning, my eyes wet and tears still falling from them. I sit there and let myself cry, cry more than I have in a long time. I don't know how much time passes, but eventually I find that I've curled up into a little ball, my head cushioned against some moss. I don't notice when I hear footsteps coming towards me.

"Madge?" A voice asks softly. "What're you doing here?"

I don't bother to reply, but manage to sit up, beginning to comb my hair with shaking hands. It's filled with leaves and twigs, and I give up after a few attempts to remove them. Luckily I've stopped crying, but my breath is shaky and I can feel that I might start hiccupping soon.

I ignore Gale as he walks closer to me, pausing for a second before sitting next to me. All my anger towards him is gone, I only feel upset, shaky. In fact, I realise that I'm shaking violently. I refuse to look at him.

"Madge?" Gale asks again. He sounds concerned, and I wonder why. Why is he concerned about me? He reaches over and puts his hand on top of mine.

"Madge, can you hear me? Madge?" I think I've gone into shock. I've just left in the middle of a compulsory show of the Hunger Games, gone under the fence and into forbidden territory. My friend had almost died twice and was now a few branches away from it again. I couldn't take it. I couldn't.

My shaking becomes more violent as I hear another sob escape my throat. It doesn't sound right. Gale sighs and pulls me against him, wrapping both arms around me. I'm not shocked by this gesture as I normally would be – I was already too shocked to speak.

"Ssh." Gale whispers, holding me there, waiting till my shaking stops and my tears dry. Once I'm finished, he doesn't let me go. I allow my head to rest against his chest, wondering how I got here.

Eventually, I manage to speak.

"Why… Why didn't you help me, today, at lunch?" I whisper, the tears threatening to spill over again. I hate being like this, so defenceless, so pathetic. But I feel oddly comforted with Gale's arms wrapped tightly around me, almost like he's protecting me. He takes a few minutes before he replies, choosing his answer carefully.

"I can't… I don't know. I should have Madge, I'm sorry." He whispers, holding me closer against him. For some reason, I accept his apology, and close my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy this.

After a while, I pull away, but I can't quite look him in the eye.

"Gale… Why are you here?" He stiffens.

"I came here to… To get away from everything…" He looks away. I understand, and wait for him to continue. "And then I heard you crying, so I came here, and…"

"And?" I whisper, my hands clenching into fists by my sides.

"And… I didn't like seeing you in pain. So I went to you." He says, still not looking at me.

"Why?" I ask, feeling glad when I notice that my voice has become clearer, no longer thick from crying earlier. "Gale, why do you defend me? Why do you protect me from Zach? Why do you not want me to be hurt? I'm just a girl from the Town…" My voice trails off, empty. He stands up and I follow, not wanting him to leave without getting an answer.

"I… I don't know, Madge. I don't understand how I feel right now. Katniss is gone, and I…" He reaches out and touches my cheek, finally looking me in the eye.

"Does this feel… Good or bad?" His question takes me by surprise, and I have to think about my answer for a second. How had I felt when he had held me? I didn't really know, I had been numb with shock. Now, it felt like…

Gale traces his finger along my cheekbone, and the sensation it left behind reminded my of electricity. Like he was leaving a trail of it wherever he touched.

"Good." I whisper, feeling my stomach flutter as his finger moves closer to my lips. Gale sighs and drops his hand from my cheek. I don't want him to stop touching me, so I take his hand in mine, surprised by my confidence.

"And this?" I ask, tracing circles on his palm with my finger. "Good or bad?" Gale doesn't pull away, but when he looks at me, he looks upset.

"It feels good." He whispers. "But… It shouldn't feel good. But it does." He glances at me before looking up at the sky.

"It's getting late." He murmurs. "You should get home."

"Will you come with me?" I ask before I can stop myself. "This morning, Zach had been waiting near my street so that he could see me…" When I say this, Gale's grip on my hand becomes tighter, and I like the feeling it gives me. His warm hand envelopes mine.

We start walking back to the fence, and he doesn't let go of my hand, which makes me a lot more pleased than it should have. At one point, he laces his fingers with mine so that he can keep a better hold on me, and my stomach flutters again. I didn't understand the feeling, but I liked it. I liked being here with Gale.

We don't say anything to each other as we walk, or when we cross the fence. We take a back route to my house, but I'm too tired to get annoyed by this. Perhaps next time I see him, I'd ask him about that.

Through all this, we don't let go of the other's hand. When we reach my street, Gale pulls me into a tight hug, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"You infuriate me, Gale Hawthorn." I mutter against his chest, enjoying the sudden warmth. I feel him laugh ever so slightly, and I know that he is smiling. We hold each other there for a while, before stepping away.

"Thank you for helping me today. I just couldn't… With Katniss…" Gale flinches when I say her name, and I feel a twist of pain in my stomach. I didn't like how he had reacted to her name. I knew that they were friends, but…

"Can we not talk about her? Please?" He whispers, his eyes filled with pain.

"Okay." I reply, equally quietly. We hug one last time, and then we walk away from each other without another word. I don't realise I'm crying until I get inside my house.

**Lots of Gadge here! I hope you enjoyed it ^^**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Keep them lovely reviews coming! ^^ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 10**

I wake up late in the morning, and instantly wish I hadn't. I throw on a jumper and rush downstairs to the TV, and throw myself on the sofa at the same time as I switch it on. It flashes instantly to the Games, and I sit on the edge of my seat as it switches between live footage and reruns.

Katniss is still in the tree, which is good. The Careers and Peeta are sleeping below - I'm still shocked over his behaviour, and I'm no close to understanding it.

Katniss is awake, and looking up at something amongst the branches. A camera? Or- I gasp and turn up the sound, and I can hear it - a faint buzzing.

(Italics) tracker jackers, my mind whispers. Deadly, especially to Katniss, who was right beneath them, and unable to move. Could this be the end? Was I about to see the death of my friend?

I pull a blanket over me, as I'm shaking, but I realise I'm not cold. I'm scared, I'm so scared for her. I freeze when she moves, untying herself from the branch, and as she begins to move closer to the nest. I'm not sure if I'm breathing when she begins sawing at the branch that the nest sits on, the vibrations causing the wasps to buzz louder and louder, till it sounds like they're all in the room, they're around me, they're angry and- I must've let out a small scream, because Toby comes in running. He finds me curled up on the sofa at an odd angle, the blanket twisted around me, my eyes wide. I'm shaking badly, and he moves quickly. He untangles the blanket from me and pulls me up so I'm sitting. He mutes the TV and I manage to shake less and look at him.

"She's gonna be okay, Madge." He says fiercely. "She's a fighter. I lived in the Seam, I've seen her bring back the things she shoots from the hunt. She shoots them right through the eye. And if she doesn't use her bow, she uses snares. Clever, quick snares. She's clever and strong and a hunter. Madge, she's going to be alright." His voice softens as he keeps going. I nod with him, wishing his words were true.

"Madge, look at the TV. Watch." He orders. I look, and don't say anything. I feel numb, and I'm worried that if I speak, I'll cry.

Katniss is still sawing, but a sting has appeared on her neck, and another on her arm. Toby wordlessly switches the sound back on, and I flinch when the branch snaps. It hits the ground with an almighty bang, and then there's tracker jackers everywhere, in the air, on the Careers. Their screams are in unison, loud and desperate. They sprint away, but the blonde girl with the bow seems confused, and drops to the ground. The angry wasps swarm onto here, and I'm shaking again, frozen in place as her struggles become slower and her screams die out. As soon as the cannon fires, the cameras switch to Katniss, zooming in on her as she drops to the ground and fumbles over Glimmer's distorted body, eventually pulling the bow and quiver from her. I have to look away when they show Glimmer's face; it's unrecognisable now. I feel sick, but I have to keep watching to find out if Katniss is okay. She has paused, a few metres away from the hive, which have dissipated into the air, hunting for the remaining Careers that managed to run away. Suddenly, Peeta crashes through the leaves to Katniss, and screams at her, "Get out of here, Katniss! Go!" She looks confused but manages to stumble away, clutching her precious bow in one hand. A small dark shape follows her in the trees.

The cameras focus on Peeta as suddenly Cato appears, and an intense fight begins.

"I can't do this." I say, standing up quickly and losing my balance slightly from dizziness. Toby gets up to help me but I shake him away, making my way upstairs to my bedroom.

This time, I cry silently. The hot tears roll down my face as I change with shaking hands. When I come downstairs, I'm still crying, but I don't let Toby see. I walk straight past him and out the back door.

It's pouring heavily with rain and it soaks through my clothes within a matter of minutes, but I don't care. I don't stop crying as I walk slowly, not really knowing where I'm going till I slip under the fence.

The forest had been so quiet last time I was here, but now it was alive with the sounds of the rain. It hammered against the leaves and made the soil smell. I loved it.

By now I think I've stopped crying, but I'm not sure. The rain is too heavy to tell. I wander amongst the trees, trailing my fingers against the damp moss that seemed to grow on every surface possible. I touched the leaves that hung the lowest and enjoyed the feeling when the water splashed against my face or hair. My boots made a squelching sound every time I took a step, and I was cold, really cold, but I still felt numb, so I didn't mind being cold so much.

I walked and walked until I couldn't anymore, and sat against a tree, leaning my head back. The rain isn't as heavy as before but still pours down relentlessly at an even pace. I close my eyes and try to forget about what I have just seen.

I stir when I hear my name being called.

"Madge? Madge!" Gale calls. He's looking for me.

I try to move, but I find I can't. The numbness from before is gone, and I start to feel cold. Really cold. Gale's voice starts to move further away and I panic.

"Gale," I croak. It's not enough, he can't hear my over the rain. At least it's not dark, I have time.

"Gale!" I call again, slightly louder. I flinch at how weak my voice sounds.

"Madge?" His footsteps start coming closer, faster and faster.

"Gale! Gale, Gale, Gale..." My voice gets quieter as I keep saying his name, over and over. Why am I so weak? So tired...

"Madge!" He cries in horror when he sees me. He rushes over and pulls me into his arms. I'm unable to return the embrace, as I've started shivering violently.

"Madge, Madge, Madge..." He whispers, rocking me slightly. His arms are wrapped right round me, trying to keep me warm, to protect me from the cold that feels like it's seeped into my bones.

"What happened?" He asks, pulling away slightly so he can look at my face. He looks so concerned, so upset...

"Katniss..." I manage to whisper. He stiffens at the name but lets it pass. I hope that he understands what I mean. "Is that why... You're here?" It's such an effort to speak. I've never felt this cold in my life.

Gale nods wordlessly, and I shiver again. He takes off his jacket and wraps it round me, and I'm too cold to protest. It warms me up slightly.

Gale stands up like he's leaving, and panic floods through me again. Then, suddenly I'm hoisted up into his arms, carefully cradled against his chest.

"You're gonna be okay, Madge, you hear me?" Gale says fiercely. Wow. Do I really look that bad? I don't feel too bad, just… cold.

He sets off at a light jog through the forest, and I bump against him slightly as he moves. When we get to the fence, he holds it up for me, and I manage to crawl underneath. He follows quickly, and then I'm in his arms, bouncing against his chest. When we reach the end of the street, he doesn't know what to do. He pauses and looks at me.

"What do I do if your Dad sees me carrying you?" He asks quietly.

"I don't know," I manage to croak back. I can see that Gale is torn – he doesn't want to leave me, but can't risk what my father would say if he saw me like this. He would blame Gale, and I wouldn't be able to stand that.

Eventually, he starts jogging again, and I pull his jacket tighter around me.

Thankfully, Toby answers the door, though not without a shocked look on his face.

"What happened?" He gasps, taking in my shaking, Gale's jacket wrapped round me, my shivering body held tightly in his arms. Gale takes a hesitant step forward, wanting to get in out of the rain. Toby moves out of the way, and Gale walks in, trying to not look shocked at the interior of my house. I know by the Capitol's standards that we're not rich, but I was still the mayor's daughter.

Gale sets me gently down on the sofa and then turns to Toby, who has followed us into the room.

"I found her… At the school." His lie isn't very convincing, but Toby seems to buy it. Gale continues, "She had been sitting there for a long time, I don't know why. She said it was because of what happened to Katinss. I don't think she's hurt, just really, really cold." He sounds genuinely concerned, scared even, and I want to reach out and take his hand, but I'm still frozen. It feels like my body is not my own.

Gale and Toby talk quietly in the kitchen for a while, which annoys me a lot. I wanted to be a part of the conversation. Just when I feel like I've thawed out enough to yell at them, Gale comes in through the door. He walks quickly over to the sofa and crouches beside me so that we're eyelevel.

"Madge," he takes my hand in both his warm ones. "You try and get better for me, okay?" I nod, and curl my fingers around his. I didn't want him to leave.

Gale leans in closer to me, and hesitates. Finally he sighs, and lets me go.

"Wait," I call after him. "Will you come see me tomorrow? Here?"

"I don't think that would be… Possible." Gale glances upstairs, to where my father's office is.

"It's okay. He's heading out to the Capitol tomorrow for two days, I'm not sure why…" My voice trails off as I think about this. I'm not lying, but it does seem odd. Why _was _my father taking this unexpected, unexplained trip?

"Then… I'll try, Madge. I will." Gale says slowly.

"Promise?" I croak.

"Promise." He replies, before turning and leaving. Toby comes into the room, and I know that he listened to our entire conversation. He sits on the arm of the sofa by my feet and smiles at me, but it turns into a smirk. Not a nasty smirk like Zach's, just a cocky one.

"If you weren't ill I'd be getting every detail from you about that boy." He grins at me. "I didn't know you were like that, Madge. Running off with boys from the Seam." I manage a snort and raise my eyebrows.

"I didn't run off with him, I genuinely went out on my own and he found me." I say, playfulness gone, willing him to believe me. Toby sighs and pushes his hair away from his face absentmindedly.

"I believe you. He seems like a good kid, but you know what your father would say if he knew you were hanging out with a boy from the Seam… An old one at that." He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I laugh an odd, strangled laugh, as I'm still cold.

"What must he be, Madge? Nineteen?"

Toby lets me go not long after this, but not without copious amounts of teasing. I drag my tired body upstairs and peel off my wet clothes. There's a hot water in my bed, which I presume was put there by Toby. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I drift into a heavy sleep.

**So, what did you all think about this? I thought seeing as Katniss will be unconscious for two more days, it'll give Madge and Gale some time to get closer without needing Katniss to be the reason to bring them together. **

**Read and review! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for all the lovely updates, you're all so sweet ^^ I smile every time I read them. **

**Disclaimer: These awesome amazing characters aren't mine. **

**Chapter 11**

When I wake up, I'm not longer cold. I can move my limbs, and speak with ease. However, I now have a constant headache, and Toby has ordered me to stay in the house today, especially since the rain has continued into today.

Toby brings me tea constantly, which is nice. He also makes me lunch and brings it to me on a tray, some tomato soup and a roll. He's definitely trying to feed me hot food to keep me warm.

My mind often wanders to Gale – will he come today like he promised? I hope so. I was lonely here, and although I was used to loneliness, it didn't mean that I liked it. I didn't mind it, I'd just preferred when Katniss had been here.

My thoughts then drift to my feelings about Gale. I really wasn't sure what was happening between us. I decide to call it a sort-of friendship, although I don't feel that it's exactly the right way of putting it. He annoyed the Hell out of me, and still made references to us being from different parts of the District which apparently made it impossible for us to be seen together. Despite that, I couldn't ignore the fact that he seemed to care about me. He had carried me all the way from deep in the forest to my house and made sure I was okay. And he had held me, not once but twice.

I sigh, and turn over. Maybe I could confront him today, ask what all this really means. If I could manage to work up the confidence, which wasn't likely.

When he touched me… It felt different. Different from how it should feel. I sit up in shock and a groan escapes me, because I've figured out what all this means.

_Crap. I like Gale. _

What did I see in him? He's was pretty good-looking, but I ruled that out quickly. Looks didn't matter so much to me. He's arrogant and full of himself, and close-minded for sure. I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair, flinching when I realise how tangled it is.

He's annoying, he acts like I'm stuck up just because I'm from the Town. He flips me off in school, just because he cares about his image.

I groan again in annoyance with myself. What was wrong with me? Why Gale? Why now?

I get up, and decide to go have a shower. The hot water manages to calm me down, and it clears my headache up a little bit. When I come back into my bedroom, there's a fresh cup of hot tea waiting for me, which I begin to sip gratefully.

I get dressed and lie on my bed, fully awake now. I take a random book from my shelf and flip through the pages lazily, scanning my eyes over the words but not really reading them.

After a while, I hear a knock on the door. Toby answers it, and lets Gale through, who carefully makes his way up the stairs and to my room, as directed by Toby. He knocks on my door before he comes in.

"Hi," he says quietly as I put my book down. He comes and sits on my bed next to me, and he quickly glances over me to check that I'm okay. I smile a little at this but force it off my face before he can see.

"Hey," I reply, equally as softly.

We don't speak for a while, and rather than the comfortable silences we've shared before, I find it awkward. He seemed so out of place in my room, too big for it, too…. Seam-y.

"Are you okay now?" He asks eventually. He looks genuinely concerned, and I wish that my heart wouldn't beat quicker when he looks into my eyes as he says this.

"Yeah, I am."

Awkward silence again. I can't stand it.

"Gale." I say, my voice coming harsher than I meant to, but I don't really care now. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to make sure you're okay. Besides, you asked me to come." Gale looks confused.

"But why did you come? Why do you care about a girl from the Town? If you even care about me?" I can feel hot tears begin to slide down my cheeks.

"Madge…" Gale's voice is pained, and he reaches my hand, but I snatch it away.

"No." I say quickly. I don't mean to be hurting him, but I can't stand not understanding this. "What are we, Gale? Are we friends? I don't understand. You carry me home through the rain and then won't protect me from Zach at lunch, just because you care about what people say. I don't fucking _get_ it." I'm crying heavily now, but he doesn't make a move to touch me again.

"Madge, you don't understand." He sounds angry now, and won't look at me.

"Damn right I don't. Would you mind explaining how you feel about me?" I shoot back. Gale's head is turned away from me, and he takes a couple deep breaths before he replies. I guess that he's trying to calm down or something.

"I…" He looks like he's thinking a lot. "You're kind, and you're not like how I thought you would be, stuck up, like someone from here. That's why I care about you." I don't reply, but wait for him to continue.

"I'm not worried about what people say about me- no, that's a lie. But I don't mind as much as you think." He sighs, and pushes his hair away from his face. I'm still angry, but I'm crying less now.

"That doesn't explain why you wouldn't defend me. You let him sit there and watch me get more and more upset. And you didn't do anything, when you said you would." I grit my teeth and clench my fists. "Why is everything so goddamn complicated with you?" Gale sighs, and glares at me.

"You know what? I guess I was wrong. You're just like them all, like I thought you were." He spits the words out, and it's like he's slapped me across the face. I wish I have some witty reply for him, but I don't. I'm just hurt.

He gets up and leaves, not bothering to shut the door. He doesn't say goodbye to Toby either, but at least has the decency to not slam my front door.

I turn onto my side and stare at the wall. I don't cry now – I had already cried when I was angry at him.

I had confronted him, and got no answers. I had tried, at least.

I tuck myself up into a ball, my arms wrapped tightly around my knees which are under my chin. I don't know how long I lie there like that for, but when Toby comes up with some dinner, I still haven't moved. He stands there for a while, wondering what to do. Eventually he sighs and leaves, shutting the door behind him.

I don't touch my dinner, my appetite gone. I fall asleep eventually.

**I'm sorry, I know this is really short :/ I didn't like how I wrote this chapter… No relationship is perfect, so they're gonna fight a lot. I promise they will get through this, probably in the next chapter. Madge is just frustrated that Gale won't tell her what's going when he seems to know anyway. **

**Also, I have an exam on Tuesday, so I may not update then, or as frequently around that time. I promise I will pick it up after that - I will not abandon this story!**

**Remember to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: these characters still aren't mine.

Chapter 12

I drag myself out of bed and get dressed slowly, sluggishly. I pull a hairbrush through my hair and pick up my bag before walking downstairs, accepting a cup of tea thrusted at me by Toby.

"How's Katniss?" I ask, taking a slice of toast of the table and alternating between taking bites of it and sipping my tea, which was still too hot to drink properly.

"Still unconscious, but that little girl, Rue, is looking over her. Last time I checked, her stings have got a lot less swollen. I think she's gonna be okay, Madge." He manages a smile, but I don't return it. I'm still upset by what happened yesterday.

"That's good," my tea has cooled a bit, and I begin to drink it quicker, having finished my toast. As I set my cup down on the table and begin to move towards the front door, Toby pushes a second slice into my hands, with a stern expression on his face.

"Promise me you'll eat this?" He asks as I sling my backpack onto my back.

"Promise." I sigh, taking a small bite out of it. I wasn't that hungry, but I didn't want to upset Toby.

As I open my door, my father appears at the top of the stairs. I glance up at him and he half smiles back.

"Do you think you're going to be okay today, Madge?" He asks, and he sounds genuinely concerned. Naturally, Toby told him about what happened two days ago, all of it apart from Gale, and he came home early from the Capitol, practically straight after arriving there.

"Yes, father." I manage a weak smile, and it's the best I can do. It seems to satisfy him anyway, and he nods at us both, before turning back to his office. I sigh and leave, yelling a goodbye to Toby over my shoulder, who has moved back into the kitchen. I shut the door before he can reply.

Although the sky is a clear, pale blue, it is very cold. I feel it instantly as soon as I step outside the door, and I shiver, drawing my jacket closer around me. I slip on some gloves and begin a slow walk to school.

With everything's that's happened, they've started showing the Games at lunch as well as in the afternoon. Luckily, I have a book tucked safely away in my bag.

When I sit down, I glance at Gale's table. He's there, but he looks different. His shoulders are slack, and he's slouching, like he's really tired, or someone's put lots of weight on his head and shoulders. His neck is bent, head bowed over his tray of food, not looking at me of the projector that shows the Games.

Next, I glance at Zach's usual spot. He's not there, but two of his friends are. They don't look at me much, and that suits me just fine. I take my book out and place it on my lap, one elbow on the table, my palm resting against my cheek. The lights have been switched off because of the projector, so no-one notices, although it's hard to read.

Eventually I give up, and put the book back in my bag, and turn my attention to the screen. I get a shock when I look, because Katniss has woken up. She's sitting by a small fire with Rue, each eating a piece of some kind of bird. Rue is explaining what's happened, and a smile crosses her face when Katniss asks about what happened to Peeta.

"He's okay." She says, sucking a bone from their bird. "I think he's down by the river."

I glance at Gale, who hasn't moved, but I can tell that he's tensed up. Despite everything, I feel sorry for him. No-one should have to go through what he's going through.

The rest of the afternoon is uneventful. I read unless Katniss or Peeta are being shown; Katniss seems to be planning with Rue to get rid of the Career's supplies, and Peeta is... Well, they keep showing a river, but I can't see anything. The focus in on a rock and some gravel, and I assume he must be hiding nearby or something. Whatever it is, at least he's still alive.

When I get home, I grab a snack and Toby and I go and sit on the sofa and watch a bit more of the Games. Not wanting to be rude, I don't bring my book, and instead we talk at the boring bits.

"How was school?" He asks.

"It was alright. They've started showing the Games at lunch too, which is okay, apart from the fact that it's too dark to read." I reply, playing with a strand of my hair. Toby snorts and grins at me when I say this - he doesn't share my love of reading. Even though most the books I own are fairly bland, considering all of them have been approved by the Capitol.

"And what's going on with you and Hawthorne?" He asks, serious now. Of course Toby knows Gale, I was fairly sure he had lived in the Seam before he got a job here, although I wasn't sure. He could be from the Capitol for all I know, although he doesn't dress like it.

"We had a fight yesterday." I mutter, not wanting to talk yesterday.

"Ah, lover's quarrels," Toby sighs dramatically and puts one hand on his heart, a silly smile fixed to his face. I giggle and hit his arm and he laughs too.

"We're not 'lovers'" I say, still smiling. I loved how Toby always managed to make me smile. "We're just... Sort of friends that aren't speaking at the moment because he's a dick." Toby's smile grows when I say this.

"Hmmmm, sort of friends?" He waggles his eyebrows at me and I giggle again. "Ah, Madge, if you saw the way he looks at you..." He closes his eyes and pulls a funny face, something that I think is meant to resemble being love struck.

I'm not sure if he's kidding or not, but a part of me wants to think he's telling the truth. Despite him being an asshole, my feelings for him were still there, only muted for now, suppressed by my anger. I still couldn't forgive him for what he had said, even if I had started it.

"I mean it, Madge." Toby says softly. "I wouldn't give up on him." He smiles at me, but his tone is still playful.

"I'm not chasing him!" I retort loudly. He grins and our eyes flicker back to the screen, as Katniss is being shown. She and Rue are walking through the forest carrying armfuls of branches, which still have their green leaves attached to them. What is she up to?

With Toby's jokes and Katniss being awake and okay, I allow myself to relax a bit and forget about Gale and everything that has happened between us.

Katniss explains to Rue as they arrange the branches in a pile that the green leaves will make lots of smoke. A distraction. A diversion.

I smile to myself. She's going to draw the Careers away from the base camp, only to find that they're not there.

Rue nods as Katniss explains. They've made two other piles of branches like these, each to be lit at different times, to buy Katniss more time to destroy their supplies that are apparently being kept at the Cornucopia. How does Rue know all this stuff about where everyone is all the time?

Toby and I take a break from watching to prepare dinner. I chop some vegetables and cook them while he boils some pasta and heats up some tomato sauce. We pour the vegetables, pasta and sauce into three bowls, one for him, one for me, and one for my father, who is working upstairs. Sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't want to have to see us, and uses work as an excuse. Toby explains that my mother doesn't need any yet, and that she is currently unconscious from a large dose of morphing.

I volunteer to take the bowl up to my father's office. I knock on the door before I come n, and wait for him to call 'come in'. When he does, I open the door slowly, carefully balancing the bowl in one hand. I close the door behind me and walk up to his desk, placing the bowl of steaming food amongst the papers that are strewn across his desk. He smiles gratefully at me, and I return the smile.

"Thank you, Madge. How are you feeling?" I assume he means physically, as he doesn't know about my argument with Gale.

"I feel fine, Dad." I smile at him again, feeling elated, almost giddy. Why am I so happy? I didn't really care enough to question it. I was just enjoying the feeling.

My father nods in approval and I take this as his way of telling me to leave. I shut the door behind me quietly, not wanting to disturb my mother. However, I open her door a tiny bit as I pass, peeking through the crack at her sleeping form. She looks peaceful, lying on her back, even a slight smile on her face. It makes me sad that she requires the Capitol's drugs to be this painless, but the feeling soon passes, and my good mood returns.

I go back downstairs and flop onto the sofa beside Toby, who turns up the volume on the TV and passes me my bowl with a smile, which I eat slowly, savouring it. I love pasta, especially with tomato sauce.

We watch Katniss travel to the clearing, and position herself at the side, waiting for the first fire to be lit. Eventually, a grey column of smoke appears in the sky, and the Careers take the bait, all of them leaving apart from one. I'm glad that Peeta is no longer a part of them.

Katniss waits for a while, her eyes scrunched up in concentration as she tries to figure out what's going on. It cuts to Claudius and Caesar, who are discussing what has happened. They explain to us viewers that one of the boys from the Careers cleverly dug up the mines from where the podiums from the start of the game, and re-activated and buried them around a huge pile of supplies. I suck in a long breath, hoping that Katniss figures it out soon, as I was sure that the second fire would be lit any second.

Suddenly, a girl appears, one who I hadn't paid much attention to, but had noticeable features. Her orange hair and quick, sharp movements reminds me of a fox.

Katniss doesn't move to attack her, or shoot her with her bow – she's watching, waiting to see if the fox girl has figured out what Katniss hasn't. The boy who was left behind the Careers is oblivious to all of this, sitting on the other side of the pile of supplies, staring into the forest.

The girl suddenly starts darting about, hopping from one patch of grass to another. I know what she's doing – she's avoiding the mines, but I don't know if Katniss understands. The girl takes a few things here and there, so that the Careers won't notice.

Katniss waits till she is gone, and then picks up her bow. She must have figured out what the trap was, what the small piles of dirt that circle the pile mean.

She aims carefully, and her arrow hits a bag of apples, severing the string that keeps it in place. She takes out a second arrow and aims for longer this time, making sure that she hits her target perfectly. She releases the arrow and it breaks the bag, and the apples roll free. They bounce down the pile slowly, and when they hit the ground-

Toby manages to mute the TV in time just before the explosion, knowing that it would surely wake my mother. Katniss is flung backwards from the explosion, and then everything is a blur. The Careers coming back, the huge boy from District Two snapping the other boy's neck. And then Katniss is up, she's moving through the forest, one hand pressed firmly against her ear which is bleeding. She moves slowly, still disorientated from the blast. The Careers are arguing loudly, using their hands a lot. Katniss glances up at the sky, and a mixture of surprise and confusion crosses her face when she realises that there is only one column of smoke in the sky. What had happened to Rue?

Katniss starts moving faster, her eyes wild and searching from side to side as she runs, checking for Rue.

Suddenly, a strangled cry comes from her right, and she turns quickly.

"Katniss!" It's Rue. "Help me!"

**So I know that there wasn't much Gadge here, but all will be revealed soon ;) **

**Well, not so soon, seeing as it's my history exam tomorrow. Aaaaahh D: **

**I will try to update as much as I can. **


	13. Chapter 13

**My history exam went fine, yay ^^ so I decided to update c:**

**Dislaimer: still don't own the characters or book or film or gah**

**Chapter 13**

Katniss starts to sprint in the direction of where Rue's cries are coming from. I can hear my breathing speed up – my heartbeat is loud in my head as I watch the cameras flash between little Rue, twisting and struggling in the net, and Katniss, running as fast as she can, an arrow notched in her bow, ready to attack.

After what seems like hours Katniss reaches Rue and cuts her free with slightly shaky hands, and then Rue is free-

My breath hitches in my throat as the spear goes through her tiny body. Without hesitation, Katniss turns around and shoots an arrow straight through the heart of the boy who threw the spear. She then collapses on the ground next to Rue, who's staring at the blood that's spreading across her t-shirt. Katniss looks like she's going to cry, and I realise that hot tears are streaming down my face. I had never got this emotional when watching another show of the Games; they were just brutal, never… Sad, like this.

"Katniss?" Rue asks in a tiny voice. Toby reaches over and takes my hand, his thumb stroking circles on my palm in an attempt to calm me down. My tears drip onto my t-shirt, but I don't move to wipe them off my face.

"Will you sing to me?" Rue continues, drawing in a shuddering breath. Katniss nods wordlessly, already knowing that it's too late. I think Rue knows it too.

_Deep in the meadow…_

Rue's breathing becomes more shaky, and she shudders as she inhales and exhales.

_Under the willow…_

Rue closes her eyes as her breathing becomes more pained, and Katniss looks scared. Not the kind of scared when the Careers were chasing her, or when she was running from the forest. The kind of scared when you know you're going to lose a friend, and there's nothing you can do about it.

_A bed of grass… _

Katniss's voice shakes as she sings, but she doesn't stop. A tear slips out from underneath Rue's closed eyelids as she draws her final breaths.

_A soft, warm pillow…_

The cannon fires and I flinch. Katniss's voice fades away into nothing; there is only silence, only one person breathing. I only realise that I'm shaking when Toby pulls me into his arms and hugs me. I let out a sob and hide my face in a cushion, and he lets me cry, unsure what to do. He settles for placing one hand on my back, and one at his side, and turns down the volume on the TV.

Eventually, when I've stopped crying so much, he nudges me. He doesn't say anything, but the look he gives me lets me know that he's sad too. It helps me know that he cares.

I look at the TV again, wondering what horror I'll see next. But instead of the gruesome sight I was expecting to see, I see something wonderful. Katniss has arranged white flowers all around Rue's body, and positioned the little girl's arms so that she holds a small bouquet of the flowers, in the traditional pose that they bury people in.

Rue looks peaceful, despite the spear that is still sticking out of her chest. I guess Katniss wouldn't have been able to bear it, seeing the wound, and all the blood. She stands back from Rue, and touches three of her fingers to her lips, and holds them out to the girl. The cameras cut off quickly to some footage of one of the Careers, but it's too late. I've seen what she did, how she showed her respect for Rue.

I rub my eyes quickly and sit up straighter, pulling my hand out of Toby's, which I have been gripping tightly. I realise right now that I'm extremely thankful that he's here with me, and that I don't have to watch the Games alone. Even if my father could watch with me, I didn't think he'd be very comforting.

I sigh and push my hair away from my face, and lance at the clock.

"Shit!" I exclaim, and cover my mouth quickly. I've never sworn in front of Toby before, but he just gives me a weak smile and shakes his head at me. I guess even he's in a sombre mood after Rue's death. I don't want to look at the TV – I don't want to see Katniss's grief. I switch off the TV quickly, wondering how it got so late so fast. Then again, the time zone from here and the arena must be different.

I say goodnight to Toby and go upstairs, but suddenly decide to have a shower. I need something to relax me, to help me forget about what I've just seen.

I take longer than necessary in the shower, and turn off the water when it begins to run cold. I dry myself quickly and slide on an old t-shirt and some pyjama shorts and climb into my bed, and fall asleep quickly, exhausted.

I wake up late in the morning, and Toby comes into my room with some tea a little while after. He catches me up on everything that has happened – Katniss has begun to search for Peeta. I climb out of bed as fast as I can on a Saturday morning, and move sluggishly downstairs, still half asleep. I collapse onto the sofa, and get nudged by Toby occasionally whenever he walks past, so that I don't fall asleep.

The Gamemakers obviously consider Katniss's searching boring, so I let my eyes glaze over, not really showing the footage they're showing of Thresh, who appears to be very hungry. I feel a bit sorry for him, but I don't know him. He was from Eleven, same as Rue.

_Rue. _

I feel a sharp pain twist in my stomach as I remember last night's events. I shake my head to try to get rid of the images of Rue's body, but it's no use, so I try and pay attention to what they're showing instead.

Finally it cuts back to Katniss, who is now travelling along the river, near where she was discovered by the Careers. There's no sign of Peeta anywhere, and she looks like she's given up. But then, the cameras are showing that same patch of land that they showed before, the footage that had confused me. I finally realise what it means – somewhere in there, Peeta is hidden. I smile slightly, feeling pleased that I've figured it out.

Katniss however does not look happy. She seems sort of panicked, running along, expecting to see Peeta easily. After all, they were wearing black t-shirts, which stood out pretty well.

She pauses for a second, looking around her, hands on her hips. Suddenly, something reaches out and touches her leg. She yelps in surprise and springs out of the way, but then a mixture of surprise, shock and relief crosses her face. She's found Peeta.

I let out a sigh of relief, and allow myself to relax, momentarily forgetting about Rue. Katniss helps Peeta up, his face and hair caked in a grey mush that seems to be a mixture of sand, gravel and dirt. She helps Peeta to wash, flinching at the same time as him whenever he is in pain. The cameras zoom in on a large gash that is now weeping blood at a steady, alarming rate. Peeta explains to Katniss in a few short breaths that it was Cato who did this to him, with his sword. Katniss nods as he talks, but she doesn't seem fazed by the blood, or the size of the cut. I think back to her mother, who would treat men who had been injured in the mines. I suppose she's used to seeing death and injuries.

I blush and turn away when she strips Peeta, and so does she. I had no desire to look at Peeta in his boxers, although the thought made me giggle slightly, despite the circumstances.

Once they're done, Katniss helps Peeta up and they begin walking. Well, Katniss walked with one of Peeta's arms round her shoulders, her knees bent from supporting his weight as he limps along slowly.

They can only move for a little while, as every step causes a little moan of pain to escape Peeta, so they use a cave that's nearby. It has an overhang which protects the inside from view from the outside, which is good, because I didn't think they'd be able to fight or make a quick escape anytime soon. I knew that even if Katniss didn't feel the same way about Peeta, she wouldn't leave him to die. She wasn't that kind of person.

A little update banner flashes across the bottom of the screen, and it tells me that Peeta's leg is infected, and it will soon induce a fever if they don't get medicine soon. I groan get up, not wanting to watch more. As soon as they move into safety and I can relax, something happens and it's all ruined.

When I go into the kitchen, it's empty. Toby must be talking to my father or something. I pour myself some cereal and add the milk, before taking a spoon and walking back into the room with the TV. I take my time, hoping that the cameras have cut to someone else by now.

I'm not that lucky, and come back in as Katniss is inspecting Peeta's wound, which is now producing some form of pus. I shudder and don't watch while I eat my breakfast.

When Katniss has finished tending to it, she lies down next to Peeta, closer to him than is necessary. As she does this, she puts her hand to his forehead, and her eyes widen.

"You're burning up." She mutters, trying not to show how worried she is, but I know otherwise. Peeta sighs and put his arm around her, pulling her closer. They lie in silence for a while, and I assume they go to sleep, because the cameras switch to the fox girl.

I get up and go back to the kitchen, and wash my bowl and spoon. When I'm done, Toby comes in and tells me that my father wants to see me. I take my time as I go up the stairs, not really looking forward to having yet another awkward conversation with him.

It didn't always use to be like this. Back when my mother didn't need to drown in morphling today, and my father didn't have so much work. We were happy as a family, we didn't need someone like Toby, not that I regret having him. He's excellent company.

I knock before I enter, not bothering to wait for my father to give me permission to enter. He looks up as I come in, surprised that I didn't wait for it.

He beckons me closer and hands me a piece of paper as we exchange pleasantries. He tells me it's a shopping list, and he wants me to go get the things on it. On the list is a number of varying things, gum, bread, soap, some meat, things like that, general groceries.

I ask before I leave if he's been watching the Hunger Games, and he nods gravely, gesturing to the TV which sits opposite his desk. It's off for now, but he's working. I don't say anything else, wondering how he reacted to Rue's death, wondering what he thinks about all this.

My head starts to hurt a bit so I stop trying to wrap my head round my father, and go get dressed, pulling on some jeans, a jacket and a t-shirt, plus some comfortable boots. I brush my hair and tie it up in a ponytail with a leather cord.

I go downstairs, not wanting to leave immediately, because it's raining. I reassure myself that my father can wait for his gum, and go read my book on the porch, enjoying the sound of the rain but the fact that I get to stay dry. For once, it's a warm rain, the kind that indicates that it's summer. Our weather had been so non-summery recently, so I was very glad for the warm rain.

After a couple of hours, Toby calls me in for a very late lunch, considering I had a late breakfast of a massive bowl of cereal. I remember this time to bring my book inside, remembering what happened last time I left it there and had to go back to pick it up.

"_Madge?" A figure steps out from the trees that line my garden._

"_Gale?" I gasp, quickly checking behind me to make sure that my father or Toby haven't heard. But my father has shut himself in his office, and Toby is doing the washing up. _

"_What're you doing here?" I hiss. He comes closer, so that he's at the bottom of the steps. _

"_I wanted to make sure that you're okay." He says quietly, not looking at me. This surprises me. _

"_What? Why?" I ask, regretting it when I realise how sharp my voice is. _

"_With Zach and everything… He didn't bother you today or anything, did you?" He asks, shifting from one foot to another. I bite my lip, wondering how much should I tell him. In fact, why should I tell him?_

Because he's just being nice, he's looking out for you._ A small voice inside my head says. _

"_I…" Now it's my turn to look away. "He… He sat with me at lunch, and…" _

"_Did he touch you?" Gale almost sounds angry. _

"_He touched my arm when I walked away, but…" Gale had stiffened, and was now looking at me. He looked pissed off, but not how he is with me. _

"_Why do you care?" I can't stop the words leaving my mouth. "What am I worth to you?" He looks up at me, all previous anger gone – now he looks… Sad. _

"_I don't want him to hurt you, Madge." He says quietly. I take a step closer, so that there's only about half a meter between us. His grey eyes look into mine, and I don't know how to respond. I want to ask why, I want to know more, but instead I just stare at him. _

_Finally, he reaches out, and touches my cheek gently. Despite being on a step and him being on the ground, we're eyelevel to each other. I hope desperately that I don't blush, as it was something I tended to do all the time. _

_Gale left his hand there for a few seconds longer, before sighing and pulling away. As he turns to leave, I call after him,_

"_Wait! Will you come to school tomorrow?" _

_Gale doesn't reply immediately, and stops to think about it. _

"_Is Zach going to sit with you at lunch again?" He answers my question with another, and this annoys me, but I try not to show it. _

"_I think so. He said he would…" _

"_Then I'll come." He doesn't wait for my reply, and leaves quickly, ducking under the trees. And then he's gone. _

He had been looking out me. He had wanted to make sure I was okay. I shake my head and force myself to not think about him.

_He was an asshole to you. He promised that night that he would defend you, look where you are now. Forget about him. _

Toby and I chat at lunch, not really about anything in particular. It's a picnic lunch, just grab what you want and make a sandwich. My favourite king of lunch, although I did have a particular fondness for hot meat pie.

After lunch, I decide to check on what's happened in the Hunger Games, seeing as I should've been watching when I was reading. I realise that I don't really care, wondering how they would know if I didn't watch one minute of it. But of course I'm watching it – how could I not, with Katniss and Peeta being a part of it this year?

Speaking of those two, the cameras flash to them just as they wake up. The little banner appears again at the bottom of the screen, informing me that Peeta's fever is still there, but hasn't got worse. I'm not sure whether to be happy or not; his leg looked awful, and in a fight I knew what the outcome would be. He would be dead in a minute, unless Katniss was there to defend him, although I didn't know what she was like with hand to hand combat.

They talk for a bit, and I curl up into a little ball, chin resting on my knees. Peeta starts talking about home, about here, District Twelve. He talks about how Katniss sung a song for everyone, and he watched her go home every day after that. I know it's meant to be touching or romantic or something, but I can't help but stifle a giggle. It sounded funny, and an image popped into my head of young Peeta staring after Katniss, eyes as wide as saucers, jaw dropped.

I push the image out of my head and focus on what they're saying. Peeta takes one of Katniss's braids in between his thumb and forefinger, and fiddles with it absentmindedly as he keeps talking.

"You had your hair in one braid, instead of two." He says, pausing to look up at her. She seems kind of shocked, but is trying to not show it. I twiddle my thumbs, staring at my hands, thinking about this. I guess he really did mean what he said at the interviews; he really did have feelings for Katniss.

How Katniss felt, I had no idea. She had never talked about Peeta at lunch, and I'd never seen her hang out with him. How was it possible to have such strong feelings for someone who you'd never spoken to in your life?

Besides, it might have been hard for them to hang out anyway. She was from the Seam, he was from the Town. My mind drifts to Gale, something which it seems to have been doing a lot recently. Like us. We couldn't hang out together, because he cared so much about what people said about him. I couldn't care less, and I was sure that people said things about me anyway.

Not that I wanted to hang out with him. The last thing I wanted to do was see Gale Hawthorne and his arrogant, annoying face. I sigh, and wonder why he does care about the whole let's-not-be-seen-together-in-public thing. Or maybe it's something different? I had no idea.

Katniss and Peeta are talking about different things now.

"Katniss." Peeta says as she brushes his hair away from his eyes. "Thanks for finding me." He really does sound grateful.

"You would have found me if you could." She replies, touching her hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature again. She looks scared for a second, and I feel scared too. What if his fever has got worse?

"Yes. Look, if I don't make it back-" he starts to say, but Katniss cuts him off.

"Don't talk like that. I didn't drain all that pus for nothing." She says, and I snort. That was very like her, to say something like that.

"I know. But just in case I don't-" Katniss stops him again before he can finish, this time by touching her finger to his lips.

"But I-" He tries to say again, not giving in.

And then, out of nowhere, Katniss leans in and kisses him. And for some reason, I have to look away from them. I feel sad, and I think of Gale. I could hate him, I could want to slap him, but that didn't mean I didn't like him. Despite everything he said, all my hatred towards him, I still had feelings for him.

Apparently, Katniss had feelings for Peeta. That, or she just wanted him to shut up. I assume it's a bit of both.

At first I think what I'm feeling is jealously, jealously that Katniss has the one she likes, and I don't. But it's not that, I realise. I'm just sad. Sad about all the complications of liking Gale.

I decide that now is a good time to leave, and put up the hood on my jacket as I step out the door. I stuff my hands in my pockets and feel the paper which the list is on crumple slightly. I smooth it out with two of my fingers, not wanting to take it out of my pocket and have the ink run.

I arrive in the town in a matter of minutes, into the plaza that is near the Justice Building. Lining the edges of the plaza are the shops, and I head for the bakery first, wanting to get it out of the way. I force the kiss from my mind as I step through the door, and manage to return Mr. Mellark's smile.

I buy some poppy seed rolls and a small cake for myself, and hand him the appropriate money. I take my time as I move around the shops, picking up the necessary items and the occasional treat for myself, like a small packet of sweets, or a bookmark. I never bought anything expensive, things that would never go noticed.

When I'm nearly finished, the rain stops. I take a minute to enjoy the sunlight that appears from behind the clouds, as it warms me up a bit. My hair is reasonably dry because I kept it under the hood of my jacket.

I stare at the ground as I begin to walk again, and only realise when it's too late before I crash into someone, who also seemed to be looking at the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" I begin to apologise until I realise who I've crashed into. It's Gale.

"Oh…" I say, as he looks up at me with tired eyes. He doesn't look angry, or even slightly annoyed. Just tired, and a little bit sad. I think back to what's just happened – Gale just watched Katniss kiss Peeta. That must have been hard for him.

A small, selfish part of me wishes that it didn't upset him, that he didn't care. I didn't want him to like her; I wanted him to like me.

"Um…" I say. Gale looks like he's about to start walking again, so I start talking quickly. "Did you see what happened on the Games?" Gale shudders, and looks at me like I've just hit him. I shut my mouth quickly, and wish I hadn't said anything. I should feel angry, but I don't. Too many sad things have happened recently, and Gale looks… broken.

"If you're here to talk about the Games, then I don't want to talk to you." He says, glaring at me. I force myself to not get angry, to not raise my voice.

"And why not?" I demand, looking him in the eye. I want him to admit his feelings for Katniss, so that I can just get it over with.

When I don't immediately get an answer, I speak again, my voice slower, less agitated.

"Gale… Look. I don't have anyone to talk to about the Games. Anyone. I go for days without speaking to my father, my mother is in bed, unconscious from her constant supply of morphling. And if you haven't noticed, I don't really have that many friends at school. In fact, I have none. And do you know what that means, Gale? It means that the only person who I can talk to is you." I finish in a rush, wanting to get it out. Gale pauses for a second, so I keep going.

"And I know it's hard of you because of you being friends with Katniss and-" Gale stops me by putting up his hand.

"You think that's why I'm like this?" He asks, his voice hollow. "That girl… That wasn't Katniss." I don't really understand what he means, so I decide to try to offer some form of comfort.

"I'm sure it was for show, Gale. She didn't really mean it, I mean she's never talked about Peeta like that, let alone talked about Peeta at all." I babble.

"That's not it!" He says, his voice louder now. I'm glad that the square is nearly completely empty; I didn't want anyone else listening in on our argument. "If it was all for show, then that wasn't the Katniss I know. That wasn't her. She would never do something like that jus for show. The Capitol's changed her." He spits. I feel anger bubble up inside me, and this time I do not suppress it.

"She trying to stay alive, Gale!" I yell, throwing my hands up in frustration. "Can't you see that? She needs people to like her, and if kissing Peeta is going to do that, then of course she has to do it!"

Gale's silent. I don't know if he's angry or sad or anything. He's just silent.

I'm nervous, wondering if I've said something really bad, but I can't think of anything.

"Madge." He says eventually. "I'm sorry about what I said… Before." I'm taken aback by this. Where did that come from? I don't want to question it though.

"I forgive you." I sigh. "And I'm sorry too, for everything." Gale nods, and holds his hand out in front of him.

"Friends?" He asks. I'm not sure about this. I wanted to be his friend, but had we been friends before?

"Friends." I reply firmly, taking his hand and shaking it. He smiles a bit at me, and I return the half smile.

"Can I walk you back to your house?" He asks, and I agree, wondering how he knows that I've finished m shopping. Although I realise I haven't actually – I had been crossing the plaza to go buy some shoelaces when I had bumped into Gale. I decide it can wait till tomorrow, and start to walk in the direction of the street that will take us to my house. I like being peaceful with him again.

As soon as we're out of sight and walking along my street, he takes my hand, although not after some hesitation. I lace our fingers, and wonder if this is what all friends do. I didn't really know, considering I'd never had a guy friend, and although I had had Katniss, she wasn't exactly the holding hands type. Then again, neither was I, but I liked the warm feeling it gave me when Gale held my hand.

We don't talk much as we walk, but the silence is not uncomfortable. When we reach my house, he pulls me into a tight hug, which I return with difficulty, as I'm still carrying my shopping bags. I manage to put them down as best I can, and wrap my arms round him. We stand there for a while, before finally, I have to pull away. Gale sighs when I do this.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" He asks, a slight smile playing on his lips. I nod and smile back, happy that for once we're meeting up on purpose, not bumping into each other at random.

"Sure. What do you want to do?" I say casually. Tomorrow's Sunday, and neither of us have any work because of the Games. Gale's smile grows as I say this.

"I have an idea, but I won't tell you till tomorrow." He's grinning now, and I groan, but I'm still smiling. I hate having to wait for surprises; I'm very impatient.

"Okay then," I say, "How about… Ten O'clock, in the square?" I expect a smartass reply reminding me that we can't be seen together, but he doesn't say anything like that. I can't help but hope he doesn't care anymore.

"It's a date." He says, still grinning. "Bye, Madge." And with that, he walks away. I want to call after him and demand what he means by 'date', but I can't. I wouldn't know what to say anyway. Did he really mean a couple-y date, or did all people say that?

I feel annoyed when a hot blush appears on my cheeks, and I wait till it's gone before I go inside, not wanting to give Toby a reason to tease me.

**Wow this is a long chapter! 4,740 words to be exact, excluding the Disclaimer and note at the start and this one here. I just had a lot of ideas and wanted to get them all out. I told you all those two would make up ;) and now they've got a date tomorrow, I wonder what Gale's surprise is? ;)**

**My next exam isn't for a week, so I'll update as much as I can c:**

**Read and review! Your reviews are amazing!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews ^^ keep em' coming ;) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the story. *cries* **

**Chapter 14 **

I'm woken up by sunlight streaming in through my window, and I sit up quickly, rubbing my eyes. I glance outside, and grin. The air is shimmering with heat, and the sky is a clear blue, with not one cloud in sight. I yawn and check the time – nine o'clock.

I decide to have a shower, and take my time, letting all my muscles relax, a calm feeling settling in. I felt a lot better, knowing that Gale and I had made up, and I didn't hate him anymore. I suppose it could go wrong again; Gale's mood did seem to change rather quickly, whether it was indifference, happiness, anger or annoyance.

I decide to wear some denim shorts, and a long sleeved t-shirt. I add some canvas shoes and ankle socks, and I decide I look successfully summery.

I go downstairs and Toby looks me up and down in one motion, a cocky smile spreading across his face.

"Going out today, Madge?" He says, "Out to see that Hawthorn boy?" he winks, and I smile, not bothering to deny it. I grab a bit of toast off the table and head over to the TV, where the Games are playing, but muted. I flop onto the sofa and turn up the volume, watching various tributes collect food or hunt their fellow tributes. Katniss and Peeta haven't moved from their cave, seemingly content with just lying there together, and kissing occasionally, which causes me to blush. I found it funny to see Katniss kissing someone; she just doesn't seem like the romantic type.

A sponsor seems to have sent them a broth, because every now and then, Katniss feeds Peeta a little bit. His condition doesn't seem to have become worse, but it's far from being any better. His forehead glistens with sweat, and his face has a light red sheen. I can see that Katniss is worried, especially so since she doesn't know what to do.

I comfort myself with the fact that no one has been killed, and begin to count the remaining tributes on my fingers. The huge boy, Cato, and the girl from his district, although I couldn't remember her name. There was the fox girl, who appeared to be looking for Katniss and Peeta. She was relatively close to the cave, but I didn't let that bother me, as the cave was well hidden, and Katniss had her bow and knife. The girl only had one knife. There was also the boy who was from the same district as Rue. I quickly move on to the next tributes, not wanting to think about the little girl's death. The other two tributes were Katniss and Peeta. That made six tributes, and I smiled slightly. Impressive – I didn't remember many tributes from Twelve who had made it to this stage of the Games, let alone both the male and female tributes.

I decide that I can afford to miss today's Games, considering the only two people I was interested in was Katniss and Peeta, who clearly weren't planning on moving anytime soon.

I get up and get handed a jacket by Toby, who's wearing a stern expression on his face. I open my mouth to complain, but he cuts me off quickly.

"I don't want you to get cold like what happened last time." I shut my mouth, and know that I can't argue against this. "Come on, Madge." He says, doing puppy dog eyes. I laugh and swat him away, and he laughs too. Everything seems so much happier now that Gale and I have made up.

I pull on the jacket, which is only a light cotton one, so I know I won't overheat outside. Hopefully.

I step out into the street after waving goodbye to Toby, wanting to escape his teasing about me meeting with 'that Hawthorn boy'. It isn't as warm as I thought it was as there is a small breeze, but it's warm enough that my jacket isn't necessary.

I walk slowly, enjoying the weather. It finally felt like summer, and I really hoped that it would last. I was sick of rain and the cold. The weather seemed to be pleasant enough in the Arena, but then again, the Gamemakers controlled all of that.

I reach the Town after ten minutes or so, and go and sit on a bench to wait for Gale, who's not here. I glance at the clock that sits in the centre of the square, which tells me that the time is nine fifty-five.

The clock is quite old, and rather beaten up. Although it's rather large and made of what I assume to be a strong metal, it has rusted, and the once white clock face has yellowed with age, and has a fine layer of coal dust on it. The black paint is flaked and chipped. I prefer it like this, though; District twelve might not be the best place in Panem, but it was still home. The clock reminded me that here was home, the coal dust, it being worn. It had been there all my life.

I snort to myself, and wonder why I'm getting sentimental about a clock. I was in a weird mood – I was very happy, elated, like I was floating. I guess I was just excited to find out what Gale's 'surprise' was.

As if on cue, Gale appears at the other side of the square, the side that leads to the Seam. He stops and his head turns from side to side, his eyes searching for me. When he sees me, he smiles slightly, and starts to walk over to my bench.

When he reaches me, he sits down next to me, and flashes me a grin. I return the grin, and we get up after a little bit of talking. As we begin to walk, Gale leading me towards where he came into the square, he takes my hand. This surprises me, as the square is relatively busy, unusually so for a Sunday morning. I shrug it off though, and satisfy myself with the fact that I'm holding his hand, and he doesn't seem to care what people say. Then again, I'm still not sure if this is a friendly thing or not. I decide to not get hopeful, and assume that it's a friendly gesture.

"Where are we going?" I ask as we twist and turn through the streets leading to the Seam, away from the Town. Gale shakes his head and presses his lips together in a smile.

"Please?" I say, tugging on his sleeve, trying to mimic Toby's earlier expression of puppy dog eyes. I think I did it wrong, because Gale laughs when he looks. I laugh too, too happy to feel insulted.

Gale refuses to say anything about where we're going, despite my pleading and begging. When we reach the Seam, I give up, knowing that it can't be long now till we reach wherever we're going.

Gale keeps making quick turns and changing direction in the streets we're walking on, but soon enough I realise we're travelling in a relatively straight line, which confuses me. Are we going somewhere we've been before, but he doesn't want me to figure it out?

We keep walking and walking, until finally I'm about to demand to know where we're going, until finally, we come out of the Seam. I realise where we are; it's the fence by the forest, the one that's meant to be electrocuted. I turn my head from side to side, and y eyes widen. Somehow, Gale has lead us through the Seam so that we've come out by the entrance to the forest, the bit of the fence that isn't connected to the ground.

We stop when we are a few metres from the fence, and I look at Gale questionably. He smiles back, and takes my other hand in his. I try and ignore the fluttering sensation that appears in my stomach when he does this.

"I wanted to come here… On purpose." He says softly, his eyes not moving from mine. "Every time we met here, we bumped into each other, or I found you in the forest. There's only bad memories of this place." His eyes are searching mine, seeing how I will react. "So I thought… I though I could bring you here, and show you the forest… And we could have some happy memories of us together? If you'd like…" He shifts his feet from side to side, looking a bit anxious. I smile a lot, a warm feeling spreading through me that had nothing to do with the weather. He planned this… For me?

I pull him into a tight hug, my cheek resting against his chest in such a way that I can hear his heartbeat, which is beating rather quickly. Gale lets out a sigh of relief and wraps his arms round me, returning the embrace. I guess he was worried I wouldn't like his idea, but how couldn't I?

He lifts up the fence for me, and I try to climb through with grace, but end up nearly falling over. Gale chuckles from behind me, and I blush. I march forwards, not wanting him to see the pink tinge of my cheeks.

"Hey, hey! Wait up!" Gale calls form behind me. He jogs after me, and catches my hand in his when he reaches me. I let our fingers lace together, enjoying the warmth.

We walk slowly, Gale's footsteps much quieter than mine. I try to mirror his silent tread, but I seem to step in all the wrong places, leaves rustling and twigs snapping with every step.

The sunlight filters through the leaves above us, and it's green everywhere. Green moss on the trees, green plants, green leaves, green grass. I take all of this in, glad that Gale brought me here. Every other time I've been here, I've been too upset to take in the surroundings.

The birds are calling to each other, and occasionally I hear the rustle of an animal moving near us. I feel like I should be scared, but I'm not. Gale's presence is helping that.

First, he takes me to a tree, a huge tree whose trunk I can't fit my arms round. When I try, Gale goes round the other side and manages to grasp my wrists. I laugh a bit, and so does he. To see the top of the tree, I have to crane my head back, so far that it almost hurts my neck. Gale takes my hand and looks up too.

"have you ever tried to climb it?" I ask suddenly, wondering what it's like up there. Surely the top of the tree is above the others, and you could probably see for miles.

Gale smiles and squeezes my hand.

"I have, but trust me Madge, it takes some work to get up there. You need to be strong, not puny like you." He teases, squeezing my arm where there should be muscle. I had no need for muscle, and didn't particularly want any. Besides, I was awful when it came to exercise.

I poke his chest in return, and we keep walking. We cross over a small stream, which has a fallen tree trunk across it that acts as a bridge. Unfortunately, it's covered in moss which is wet from the spray of the water, and I nearly slip several times. Gale catches me each time, used to my clumsiness by now. I grumble every time his arms wrap around my waist and stop me from falling face-first into the water, but I'm thankful that he's there to catch me.

He takes me to a strawberry patch, one that he has put a wire mesh around so that animals can't get in. My mouth opens in surprise as I stare at the huge wild bushes, each one holding ripe strawberries. I turn and look at Gale, who's smiling at my reaction.

"How did you-" I begin, but he interrupts me.

"Well, I figured that if you liked strawberries, seeing as your dad does too. You buy quite a lot of them; I guessed that some were for you." My expression of surprise turns into a smile as he says this.

"Is this where you get them from? The ones you sell us?" I ask, gesturing vaguely to the bushes that surround us. Gale nods and I take a step towards him, my arms outstretched hesitantly. We had hugged a lot today – did friends hug this much?

Gale closes the distance between us quickly and embraces me tightly. I mumble a thank you against his chest, and his only answer is to hug me tighter. After a while, we sit down, and Gale motions for me to take a strawberry.

"Are you sure?" I ask. I knew strawberries would fetch a fair amount of money, and I didn't want Gale to waste them on me.

"Of course, Madge." A smile plays on his lips, and I reach out and take a medium sized one. I turn it over in my hands before I eat it. It's perfectly ripe, the whole of the skin a bright red, but not soft like an overripe berry. I put the whole thing in my mouth and Gale grins at me, taking one for himself. It's sweet and full of flavour, and I can't help but smile as I eat it. I take one more, and this one is just as ripe.

We sit there for a while, eating strawberries and talking. I'm happy he trusted me enough to bring me here, and touched that he remembered about selling me strawberries. Eventually we get up and start walking again, and Gale tells me he's taking me to the final place he wanted to show me.

Instead of holding my hand, Gale pulls me closer and wraps one arm round my waist tightly, holding me against him. I try to hide the fact that I blush slightly when he does this, but he notices and smiles. I wrap my arm round his waist as well, and we walk like this till we reach our destination. I like being this close to Gale, it makes me feel safe, protected.

The trees give way to a small clearing, which is on the edge of a hill. Beyond the hill are miles and miles of forest, stretching in every direction. It's beautiful.

I let out a little gasp when I see this, and Gale chuckles from beside me.

"It's pretty good, right?" He asks, smiling.

"It's… It's…" I can't quite seem to find the right words. It's not just beautiful, it's… It's open. It's free. There are no fences here, no Capitol, no laws. I realise a lot of the land that I'm looking at must be unexplored, since the Capitol arrived anyway, all those years ago. It's incredible.

"Gale…" I whisper, awestruck. He chuckles again and pulls me into a tight embrace, burying his face in my hair. I return the hug as tightly as I can.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I whisper over and over. It seems like I can't say it enough. I begin to pull away, but Gale holds me there, his eyes locking with mine. I smile at him and he smiles back, raising one hand to touch my cheek.

"Madge…" He whispers, playfulness gone. He's no longer smiling, but he doesn't look sad. His palm rests lightly against my cheek, then slides to the back of my head, his fingers tangled in my hair. He pushes my head slightly towards him, and I allow the movement, so that our foreheads are now touching. His grey eyes don't leave mine, watching for my reaction, to see if I will pull away. I don't pull away though, I couldn't if I tried. I'm captured by his stare, by his hand that is now on my neck, the fact that our bodies are so close together.

We stand there for a few moments, our breathing faster than normal. And suddenly, Gale closes the final distance between us, and his lips press firmly against mine.

**I'm going to leave it like that on a cliffhanger and you're all gonna hate me. c: **

**Read and review! **


	15. Chapter 15

**This one's going to be short (sorry :c) because I need to go do some art stuff. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters, Suzanne Collins does. **

**Chapter 15 **

I've never kissed someone before.

So I don't really know what to do as Gale leans in and kisses me, but I let him. My mind goes empty of any protest, any conscious thought. There's just him and his lips and his hands, one on the back of my neck, the other on my waist, pulling me tight against him. I feel like I should do something with my lips but I don't know what that something should be, so I stay still.

He pulls away after a few seconds and his eyes are wide, searching mine, trying to judge my reaction. I stare back, not entirely sure what just happened. I had been sure he liked Katniss, so sure that he had no feelings for me. And yet he had just kissed me.

"Gale…" I whisper. I must not look happy, because he pulls away.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, looking at his feet.

"Don't be sorry," I say, trying to keep my voice gentle. "I just… I don't understand…" Gale sighs as I say this and runs his fingers through his hair in a brisk movement, messing it up. I resist the urge to smooth it back down for him.

"And… Why are you confused?" He asks, not meeting my eyes but grabbing my wrist and pulling me down so that we are both sitting.

"Because…" I look at my hands which are resting in my lap. "Because of Katniss…" Gale stiffens and sighs again. "Don't you have feelings for her?" I ask in a small voice.

"I… Madge…" He whispers, taking my hand. I won't look at him – I don't want to hear what he's about to say. That he only kissed me because he misses Katniss, that he would never want to be with me.

"Madge." He says again, his voice clearer now, but still quiet. "I don't have feelings for Katniss. I promise you."

This takes a moment to sink in, and I look up at him. I can feel a silent tear slip down my cheek, and he brushes it away with his finger. He looks concerned.

"Is that bad?" He asks quickly. "I'm sorry, Madge, I-" I cut him off by holding up my hand.

"Do you really mean that? You don't like Katniss?" I ask, my voice still quiet.

"I really mean it." He says firmly. After a moment of silence, he sighs. "Look, I just… Katniss is my best friend, and without her, my family would've starved by now. I couldn't live without her. But… She's only been my friend, and I want to keep it that way." I wait for him to continue, and I can hear the stress in his voice. "It's just… Everyone expected us to be together, didn't they? Even you thought I had feelings for her. Hell, I've thought about it myself, but I don't. I don't like her in that way. But everyone expected me to and I couldn't and…" His voice fades away and I squeeze his hand.

"Personally, I prefer blondes." He manages to say with a weak smile. I smile back, and shuffle closer to him.

"And me?" I ask quietly. "How do you feel about me?" Gale laces our fingers together and holds my hand tightly.

"Well, to start with, I found you utterly infuriating." We both chuckle when he says this.

"The feeling was mutual." I reply, with a smirk on my face. Gale grins and continues.

"And then… I saw Zach with you, and I hated it. I couldn't stand to see him hurting you." He clenches my hand tightly. "And I felt… Happy when we bumped into each other. I was hopeful that I would see you by the fence. And then when you got hurt, when you were cold in the forest… It was horrible. And I knew then how much I cared about you." He ends in a whisper, and I take a moment to think about this. I remember the concern in his eyes that day, the way he scooped me up in his arms and carried me all the way home.

I begin rubbing circles on his palm with my thumb absentmindedly, and look back into his eyes. We look and look and look, but it's not awkward, it feels… Nice.

"If you don't mind," Gale says quietly, "I'm going to kiss you again." I smile and he takes that for an answer.

This time, it's slower, more gentle. He only brushes his lips against mine for a few seconds, but it feels wonderful. When he pulls away, I'm out of breath, despite having only kissed him for a very short amount of time.

Gale smiles at me, and runs his finger along my bottom lip slowly, smiling more when my breathing accelerates when he does this. And then I'm pulled into a tight hug, which I return just as tightly.

"One more question." I mumble into his chest. "Do you still care about what people will say if they see me with you?" Gale waits a bit before he replies, thinking carefully about what to say.

"I didn't care what people would say about me being with you, no. Not because you were from the town. I cared because everyone still expects me to be with Katniss, but now… Now she's with Peeta. And that makes everything okay, because now I can be with you. If… If you'd like that, Madge?" He asks quietly. I can tell he's scared that I'll say no.

I like him, I know that. It feels… different when he touches me, even if our arms brush. It's like electricity running across my skin. And I certainly enjoy kissing him.

Then again, what will my father say?...

_Screw him. _I think firmly. I didn't care what he said, I didn't care what people at school said. If anything I needed a friend, and it would be extra nice if Gale could be something more.

"Yes." I reply, equally as quietly. "I would like that very much." He hugs me tighter and plants a kiss on my head, which makes me smile.

What was once a light breeze has now got stronger, and I shiver as we get up. Gale wraps one arm tightly around my shoulders, and we walk slowly. At the fence, he suddenly pulls me close and kisses me again, just a simple kiss, his lips pressed against mine. When we move apart, he's smiling, and so am I.

"Sorry." He says between breaths, "I'm just… I'm really happy I can do that now."

I smile at him and crawl under the fence, and he follows quickly. We walk through the square holding hands, and attract a few stares, but we ignore it. Everyone in the Seam knows Gale because he hunts; everyone knows me because my father is the Mayor. I don't care though, I only grip Gale's hand tighter as we walk, letting people look.

When we reach my street I stop, but Gale pulls me along, closer to my house.

"What if someone sees?" I hiss, resisting his pull.

"Yes, what if?" He says lightly, a smile playing on his lips. I sigh, and let him pull me along. I was fine with people at school knowing about… This, but I wasn't so happy with my father knowing. I only know that he will disapprove and perhaps force me to stay away from Gale, which I wouldn't like at all.

We stand outside my house and Gale pulls me close, resting his forehead against mine. He rests one hand on my cheek, and strokes his thumb back and forth, which leaves a nice feeling that lingers. When he kisses me again, it feels like the electricity that appears on my skin when he touches me, only magnified. I wished there was some other way to describe the feeling, but the only word that came to mind was electricity, so I left it at that.

I end the kiss this time, whispering that I have to go. He kisses me one final time, quickly, sweetly. We hug and walk in separate directions, and I throw a glance over my shoulder as I go into my house.

"MADGE UNDERSEE!" Toby booms. I turn around quickly, to find him standing at the other end of the hallway, brandishing a pan that I guessed he was going to use to cook dinner in. "WHO WAS THAT YOU WERE SHARING SALIVA WITH?" I sigh in relief and giggle. Of course Toby had been watching, nothing gets past him.

"Nobody, Toby. I don't know what you're talking about." I march past him with a grin on my face into the kitchen, and he follows. I lean against the counter and watch him, having to stifle a giggle as he manically waves the pan at me.

"Don't you 'nobody' me!" He cries. "Don't you make me use this!" I can't help but laugh as he sweeps the pan at me. He sets it down on the stove and turns to me.

"Honestly Madge, who knew you were like that, running around town, snogging boys from the Seam, no less…" He sighs dramatically and begins preparing dinner, and I Decide to help. We talk as we work, or rather, Toby teases me and I throw spaghetti at him for half an hour.

We eat dinner on the sofa in front of the TV, and Toby catches me up on the Games that I missed today.

"There was a feast. Peeta didn't want Katniss to go, but she did anyway, because he needs medicine. Badly. That girl from the same District as Cato, the huge one, she caught Katniss, and honestly Madge, I thought… I thought that was the end." Toby says softly. I try to swallow the lump in my throat that has suddenly appeared, but it doesn't work. Had I just missed my friend's death?

"But then that boy, Thresh appeared. He attacked the girl, and saved Katniss. He said it was like an exchange for Rue. And Katniss got back to Peeta with the medicine, although he was a bit pissed off that she left." I sigh in relief and smile.

Peeta does look a bit healthier. His leg has healed up a bit, and is no longer leaking pus, for which I am very grateful.

After we wash up our bowls, I head up to bed, but take a shower first, even though I had one this morning. I'm covered in dirt from the forest, not to mention several scrapes and bruises on my legs. Toby had made no comment, but I was fairly sure he would have guessed where I had been.

I collapse into bed, but for once don't fall asleep immediately. I close my eyes and think about today, the kissing, the forest, the strawberries…

And with that, I fall asleep, and dream of a huge tree in a meadow that grows strawberries on the branches, and they're as large as apples. I keep trying to climb up to get to them, but I fall off every time.

**Didn't I say this would be short? Ah well.**

**Read and review! Oh, and thank you for the 2,500 views! **

***note to my friend – don't stress about tomorrow, you're gonna be fine. I promise.* **


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! (3 whole days D:) I was ill + very busy, I have another exam on Wednesday and it's maths so is causing a lot of stress.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters. **

**Chapter 16**

I get up slowly, sluggishly, taking my time. I lie in bed for a while, dozing, before I manage to sit up. I glance over at my alarm clock and gasp. It's 8:30, and lessons at school start at nine. I had forgotten that it was Monday.

I pull on some jeans, a t-shirt, jacket, and some boots, before sprinting down the stairs two steps at a time, and snatch a bit of toast off the table as Toby comes in from the kitchen.

"I'm late." I mumble my explanation through quick bites of my toast, hurrying round the table, picking up various things and throwing them into my bag: some pens, a notebook (not that I needed it for class, it was just something to preoccupy myself with whist we watched the Games), my current book that I was reading, and some more toast in a bag to eat whilst walking to school. They said that the people in the Capitol missed breakfast, as apparently they thought it made you thinner, but I didn't understand it. I made a point if eating breakfast every morning, thankful that I had enough to eat. I was sure the people in the Capitol couldn't imagine feeling hunger, real, gnawing hunger, but in District 12, it was a harsh reality for many.

I push these morbid thoughts out of my head, and realise I haven't been listening to Toby.

"...and Peeta are planning to leave the cave, I think." He finishes, arranging some food on a plate to take up to my mother.

"What? Why?" I ask quickly. They were safe there, why would they want to leave?

"I don't know, Madge." Toby folds his arms and looks at me sternly. "Now aren't you late for school or something?" I sigh and nod, and leave quickly. I check the clock as I walk past; 8:50.

I walk quickly, pulling my jacket tighter around me against the cool breeze. I make it to my desk just in time, at 8:59. I run my fingers through my hair which I hadn't had time to brush as I catch my breath - I had had to run up the stairs to my classroom to get there before I was late.

I let my mind wander through my two lessons before lunch, English and history, despite them being my favourites. I bring out my notebook in history and doodle drawings of trees and strawberries, some like the ones from my dream last night, some like the ones from the forest. My mind wanders to Gale; his Seam grey eyes, his brown hair, his smile that he seemed to do only for me. Of course I thought about the kissing, how warm his lips felt against mine, how I had never kissed someone before, but when I kissed Gale, it felt natural, almost easy.

"Madge!" My teacher says sharply, and I look up quickly.

"Yes?" I ask quickly.

" I asked you a question." She says, sounding very annoyed, for which I feel instantly guilty. She was a good teacher, and I hadn't wanted to disappoint her. I wait for her to continue, and she does after a long sigh.

"Which is this state?" She taps a diagram which is pinned up on the board, of the old country, North America.

"Ohio." I answer quickly. The teacher nods and carries on, somehow seeming offended that I was able to answer her question. I go back to doodling, but I still listen to her in case she asks me another question, but she doesn't.

At lunch, I go to my usual table, not before glancing at Gale's. Most of his friends are there, but he isn't.

I sit down and look across to Zach's table. He's there, and he grins when he sees that I have appeared. I guess he's got better from being ill.

He gets up and begins to move towards me, and my hands curl into fists. I didn't want to see him today, I didn't want to have to deal with it.

However, he suddenly stops, anger flickering across his face for a brief second, and then he is obscured from my view by a dark shape. I blink and look up and find that Gale is standing opposite me, his tray of food in one hand, the other resting on the table.

"Hey, Madge." He says quietly, a smile tugging at his lips. "Why're you sitting on your own here?" I'm glad he's here, especially since Zach was about to come over, but his question startles me. I always sit here - why wouldn't I sit here?

Gale takes in my confused expression and chuckles.

"Madge, did you really think that with everything that's happened in the last two days, I'd let you sit on your own while Zach creeps on you?" He's smiling, but I shudder at the thought of having to spend another lunch being tormented by Zach. Gale sees how scared I am and leans over, sliding his hand on top of mine.

"Hey, hey. What I'm trying to say, well, ask, is that you'd come sit with me and my friends today?" This surprises me even more. Did he really mean that? Didn't he care about his image?

But then I remember what he said yesterday.

"I didn't care what people would say about me being with you, no. Not because you were from the town. I cared because everyone still expects me to be with Katniss, but now… Now she's with Peeta. And that makes everything okay, because now I can be with you. If… If you'd like that, Madge?"

Perhaps he truly meant what he said, to the extent that he would have me sit with his friends, all from the Seam. This thought makes me almost as scared as I was when Gale mentioned Zach. What would his friends think of me? Would they not like me? Would they hate me because I was the Mayor's daughter, not one of them?

Gale can see that I'm scared, and pulls me up gently.

"Madge, I promise it'll be fine." He says quietly, holding my hand tighter.

"You promise?" I say in a small voice, wishing that I didn't sound scared. I wanted to be confident, outgoing, so that perhaps I would be accepted by his friends. But instead, I was shy, and although I could be pretty sarcastic, I needed to be around someone I was comfortable with to be able to do that.

I pick up my tray with one hand (with much difficulty) and we make our way over to his table. They all stop talking instantly and look up at us, and I think, 'This is it. This is where they tell me to go away, that I'm not one of them. That the mayor's daughter can't sit with kids with the Seam."

But instead, they all smile at us, and start shuffling around to make room. I sit between Gale and another boy, who introduces himself as Thom. The others say their names in turn, although I forget most of them quickly. I remember Thom though, as he chats constantly, keeping it from being awkward. They don't question me, they don't ask about how Gale and I came to be together, but they don't ignore me. I even feel slightly comfortable as I eat my food.

Almost straight after we sit down, the staff roll a TV into the room, and switch on the Games. Nothing interesting is happening, but I feel Gale's hand grip mine and squeeze tightly, our secret comfort hidden under the table from his friends.

We hug goodbye at the end of lunch, having spent the entirety of it chatting with Gale's friends. Well, they chatted, I listened, and provided input whenever they talked directly to me. They didn't seem to mind my quietness.

"Gale." I mumble against his chest. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." He replies, nuzzling my neck. I take a deep breath before I continue, not sure how he'll react.

"The Games are going to end soon, we both know that." I say, my voice almost a whisper. "There's only four of them left... Gale, will you... Will you come back to my house after school? To watch the end? I feel like I'll need you to be there, just in case..." My voice trails off, but Gale hugs me tighter.

"Of course." He whispers, "I'd love to be there. But won't your father...?"

"He stays in his office whenever a crucial part of the Games are on, and I'd be surprised if he turns up for dinner." Gale nods as I say this, and I can feel his hand rubbing circles on my back, soothing me.

"I'll come. But I have to walk my little brother home; my mother says that I haven't been spending any time with him, so..." He says quietly.

"That's fine. Shall I wait for you at my house?"

"Well... Would you like to come?" Gale asks, sounding slightly nervous.

"Yes." I say, smiling. "I would like that a lot."

And then Gale kisses me, right there in the school, although there aren't many people near us. It's quick, only a peck on the lips, but it's enough to make my heart beat faster.

And with that he's gone, and I return to class, to go watch Katniss win or die.

Katniss and Peeta are preparing to leave the cave, whereas Cato is moving quickly towards the Cornucopia. Night has fallen in the arena, and the atmosphere is tense. It will be over soon.

I sit forwards in my chair, and watch carefully. Thresh, the boy from Eleven, is making is way towards the river, although I don't know why. I guess he doesn't want to have to face open conflict with Cato, a trained killer, and Katniss with her bow.

Cato is almost at the open field which the Tributes began the bloodbath in. He's taken longer than normal because about halfway there, he eats all his food (which isn't much). I suppose he would prepare his weapons, but he has none, apart from his small hunting knife which wouldn't be able to do much damage, even in the right hands. When Katniss blew up their supplies, she really hurt them, taking away all their resources.

Nothing exciting happens for a long time, just everyone travelling, wary, alert. I guess the Gamemakers must be frustrated by the lack of action, and would be creating something to help end the Games quickly.

When I walk out the front doors to the school, I see Gale leaning against the wall, waiting for me. We both smile when we see each other, and hug. He kisses my head and we wait for his brother, Gale's arm wrapped tightly around my waist. We ignore the stares from people as the walk past.

Gale's little brother doesn't seem as surprised as I expect him to be when he sees me with Gale, although he raises his eyebrows when he sees Gale's arm round my waist.

"Madge, this is Rory, my little brother." Gale says, smiling. "Rory, this is Madge, my..." He seems unsure how to finish. Were we a couple? Could I call Gale my boyfriend? The phrase seemed odd to me. 'Boyfriend' didn't really seem to fit Gale.

"Your girlfriend?" Rory says with a grin. "And of course I know her name, everyone does." I don't mean to flinch when he says this, but I do. I hate how the majority of people in school knew my name, simply because of my father's job.

Gale moves so that he's holding my hand instead of having his arm around my waist, and gives it a reassuring squeeze to try calm me down.

We begin to walk and Rory chats constantly about his day; I wouldn't have been able to talk if I wanted to. I was still stewing over the fact that everyone seemed to know a lot about my family, and yet not one of them had talked to me and tried to get to know me.

Gale supplies the appropriate responses to Rory's babbling so that I don't have to. We pass into the Seam and as we do I realise that this would be the first time I was going to Gale's house.

I begin to feel slightly nervous, wondering what his family would think of me. If I met them. Perhaps it would be better to stay outside and wait for Gale.

We arrive outside a very small house, much smaller than I imagined. A small girl answers the door, who Gale introduces to me as Posy, the youngest of the family and the only girl. She nods at me and appears shy, half hiding her body behind the door. Rory goes in and Gale follows, tugging me along behind him. So much for staying outside.

Inside, it's warm and dim. I hear a woman call to Gale from another room, thanking him for bringing Rory home, and would he come through and give her hand. Despite my quiet protests, Gale pulls me closer and pushes me through the doorway.

A medium sized woman stands by a basin, surrounded by dirty and clean clothes. She pulls a grey shirt out from the murky water and adds it to the pile of clean clothes, before glancing up at us. Her eyes widen when she sees me, but other than that, she doesn't react in any way.

"Madge, this is my mother, Hazelle. Mother, this is Madge." Gale says quietly.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." I say, extending my hand to her, managing a smile. Hazelle shakes my hand and returns the smile, although it is only brief, yet warm.

"Would it be alright if I went to Madge's house for a while?" Gale asks quickly, not wanting it to become awkward.

"Yes." Hazelle nods, not taking her eyes off me. "Just be home in time for dinner."

"Thank you." Gale replies.

"I'd like to speak to you, alone for a second." She asks, her eyes finally moving to meet Gale's. He nods and turns to me, and flashes me a smile to let me know that it's okay.

"I'll be out soon, okay? Just wait in the other room with Rory." He says quietly. I smile back at him and leave, shutting the door carefully behind me.

I walk into the centre of the room, not really sure what to do with myself. There's a sofa to one side, but Rory is sitting on it, so I don't move.

"Hey Madge." He says, grinning at me. I'm thankful for his upbeat attitude, and the fact that he talks all the time, which means I don't have to say much.

"Hello, Rory." I say back, running my fingers through my hair. He pats the space next to him on the sofa and I obediently sit down.

"So. You and Gale." He says, his grin widening.

"Yes?" I reply, not looking at him, focusing instead on my hands.

"Are you guys a thing? Like, a couple?" He asks. I smile a bit and say, "I don't really know, to be honest."

"But have you kissed and stuff?" He asks eagerly, leaning forwards.

"You should ask Gale." I say, laughing slightly at how excited he appears to be by this.

A short silence follows, although it is not awkward. I can hear muffled voices coming from the other room, and I can make out some of the things that are being said.

"...from the town. Do you..."

"I don't care that she's from the town, I..."

It doesn't seem like an argument, just a conversation. They keep talking, and Rory asks some very personal questions about Gale and I, enjoying my reactions.

Finally Gale opens the door and smiles at us both, as Rory has me laughing and he's grinning. Gale walks over and I stand up.

"Let's go." He says, taking my hand and walking to the door.

"Bye, Madge," Rory says as we leave.

"Bye," I call over my shoulder. Gale shuts the door and we begin to walk in the direction of my house.

"So... How does Hazelle feel about me?" I ask quietly. Gale squeezes my hand.

"She feels perfectly fine with you. She was just a bit worried about... About how you're from the Town. She doesn't dislike you for that or anything, she just wanted to know if I knew the consequences of our... Being together."

"And these consequences are?"

"Well... Just that people will say things about it. I don't know, gossip at school, stuff like that." Gale sighs and looks up at the sky. "I told her I don't care what people say about me being with you. And I don't. Not now." He pauses and looks at me, waiting to see how I'll react.

"So..." I say slowly, "so she doesn't hate me?" Gale chuckles and pulls me against him, resting his cheek against the top of my head.

"Madge, she's perfectly fine with you. Especially so that I explained to her about... That stuff. It's fine." I don't reply, and he doesn't push me for an answer, knowing that what he's said has satisfied me. I've passed the test; I have been evaluated as suitable for Gale.

When we get to my house, Toby comes through to the hall, and raises his eyebrows at Gale, who returns the surprised expression.

"You didn't tell me your... Friend was coming round." He says, smirking. I hit his arm lightly as we walk past.

"I decided today at school. Gale, Toby, Toby, Gale." I say quickly, wanting to see what I've missed.

Gale sits on the sofa and before I can move to sit next to him, he pulls me into his lap. I smile at him and he kisses me quickly, before I reach for the remote. I feel my stomach flutter as he does this, and briefly wonder if I have the same affect on him.

I gasp when the TV flickers to life. Katniss and Peeta are... On top of the Cornucopia? With... Dogs around them? No, muttations. Gale wraps both his arms around me and holds me against him tightly.

Cato, the huge boy from the same District as Clove, is holding Peeta against him, ready to snap his neck. Katniss is aiming her bow at Cato, a panicked look on her face. If she shoots, Cato kills Peeta.

There's no sign of Thresh, and I assume he was killed by the muttations that have moved so they are below Cato and Peeta, snarling and growling, trying desperately to scramble up the side of the Cornucopia.

There's a few short, tense seconds where they stand there in that position, not one of them wanting to move. I hold my breath and feel my heartbeat increase rapidly, so much so that I feel like I can hear the blood drumming through my veins. Gale is breathing in short, sharp breaths, his eyes fixed to the screen.

In a sudden movement that makes me jump, Katniss shoots her bow. It seems like everything goes into slow motion for a few seconds, and I can't understand what's happening. But then Cato's on the ground and the mutts are on him, and I turn my face away from the screen, hiding into Gale. I wish that there was some way to block out his screams of pain. The mutts drag him into the Cornucopia, but still he moans and screams as they attack him, and I can't look. I hear Katniss rip something, and assume that she's making a bandage of some kind for Peeta's leg.

"Don't go to sleep." She says.

"Are you cold?" He asks after a while. I hear someone unzipping their jacket, then after some rustling, it is zipped back up again.

"Cato may win this thing yet." Katniss whispers to Peeta.

"Don't you believe it." He replies, equally as quietly.

I don't know how long we sit there, but Cato's moans and begging continue. Finally, after what seems like forever, I hear an arrow fly from Katniss's bow, and a cannon fires. I move my face away from Gale's chest but don't look at the TV screen; I look at him, and realise that I'm crying.

"Did they win?" I whisper. Gale smiles a weak smile at me, and I smile back through my tears. He leans in and kisses me very gently, and I assume he's trying to soothe me in some way. It works a bit, and I manage to look at the TV again.

Katniss and Peeta have moved from the Cornucopia, the mutts gone, no longer interested in their dead prey. The sun is beginning to rise and they look at the sky, waiting to see a hovercraft appear to take them away. I'm confused; there has been no announcement of victory. Katniss picks up her arrow that she fired at Cato just as Claudius Templesmith's voice booms into the arena.

"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour." I freeze, not quite processing what I've heard. How could they do that? How?

Peeta and Katniss turn to stare at each other. They don't know what to do,what to say. Their faces show shock and disbelief, and then sadness.

"If you think about it, it's not that surprising," Peeta says softly. He pulls his knife out and Katniss instinctively loads her bow and instantly has it aimed at his heart. Peeta raises his eyebrows and throws his knife away. Katniss drops her weapons and takes a step back.

"No." Peeta says. "Do it." He limps towards Katniss and pushes the weapons back into her hands.

"I can't." She replies. "I won't."

"Do it. Before they send those mutts back or something. I don't want to die like Cato."

"Then you shoot me," Katniss says furiously, shoving the weapons back at him. "You shoot me and go home and live with it!" Gale tenses, and I can feel it.

"You know I can't." Peeta says, throwing the weapons to the side. "Fine, I'll go first anyway." He rips off the bandage that was around his leg.

"No, you can't kill yourself." Katniss says quickly, desperately trying to press the bandage against his leg.

"Katniss. It's what I want."

"You're not leaving me here alone."

"Listen." Peeta pulls Katniss to her feet. "We both know they have to have a victor. It can only be one of us. Please, take it, for me." He continues on about how he loves Katniss, how horrible his life would be without her, but I can tell Katniss isn't listening. Gale becomes more and more tense.

Katniss fumbles with the pouch on her belt, and Peeta moved to stop her.

"Trust me." She whispers, looking into his eyes. He loosens his grip on her wrist slowly, eyes never leaving hers. She open the pouch and pours some of the dark berries into his hand, and then fills her own.

"On the count of three?"

Peeta kisses her gently. Gale is like a statue, his eyes glued to the screen. Despite him saying that he didn't have feelings for Katniss, it must be hard for him to watch this.

"The count of three." Peeta says firmly. They turn so that their bad are to each other, and hold hands tightly.

"Hold them out. I want everyone to see." He says, and they do. The berries glisten in the sun. The both begin to count, and at three, they raise their hands to their lips, and- "Stop! Stop!" A voice shouts. Katniss and Peeta pause, the berries not quite touching their lips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you - the tributes of District Twelve!"

**This took ages to write .**

**Read and review! **


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm so sorry for the late chapter :/ at first it was due to stubbornness because of the lack of reviews (only two for the last one! :c), and then a bunch of exams came up so I didn't have time to write another chapter. But I've finished now :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 17**

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District Twelve!"_

Suddenly, Gale's arms are around me and we're cheering and hugging, huge grins plastered to each of our faces. And then he presses his lips against mine, hard, but still smiling. We pull away for breath and I can feel tears streaming down my face, although I am not sad, I am happy, I have never been so happy. They're alive, they're okay, they've made it. They've done the impossible, the unthinkable. They beat the Capitol, they beat the Games, _together_.

I kiss Gale again and start laughing against his lips, unable to contain the amazing feeling inside me.

For so long I had been worried that my friend would never come home and I would have to watch her death, but Katniss had won and it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Toby comes in and looks at the screen for a second before throwing his arms around me (much to Gale's discomfort) and cheering with us. Toby then high-fives me, and I start laughing again.

The TV screen is now showing commentary and reruns of the final moments, although not once do I see the nightlock scene. Ceasar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith try to keep an upbeat, celebratory atmosphere, but you can tell that something is off.

I find myself pulled into Gale's strong arms, and then pressed against his chest in a tight hug. He kisses his head and we fall silent, standing there for a while. Toby leaves quietly, although I know that I will be teased mercilessly for this later.

"They did it." I murmur. "They really did it." Gale's arms tighten around me, and I feel him kiss my head again.

"I know." He replies, equally as quietly.

"I can't quite believe it." I feel his hand begin to rub my back slowly in circular motions. "The whole District will be in an uproar."

"I know."

I can't tell whether Gale is happy or sad, but I don't know how he could be sad right now. I can't see his face, and I wonder if he is smiling right now.

"Gale?" I ask quietly. "Is something wrong?" As soon as I say it, I feel his body stiffen.

"The nightlock… They defied the Capitol. It was practically a rebellion directly against them, Madge." He whispers in a hushed voice, so quiet I can barely hear him, especially since the TV is still on. Gale sighs a long, tired sigh, and rests his cheek on the top of my head.

"What will happen next?" I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.

"I don't know. They can't kill them-" I flinch when he says this, "-or their families. They can't hurt you, Madge, you're the Mayor's daughter. But me, my family… I'm a way to get to Katniss. To both of them. If they hurt me, that will hurt Katniss, and in turn, that will hurt Peeta." It takes a minute for this to sink in, but I react fiercely when it does.

My grip on Gale tightens, my fingers digging into his skin, and my voice comes out angry and harsh.

"I won't let them."

"Madge-" Gale begins, but I interrupt him.

"No. I won't let them. You said it yourself Gale, I'm the Mayor's daughter. I will _not _let them hurt you or your family. You hear me? You have no idea how much you mean to me, Gale Hawthorn. No idea." I realise then that I am crying, hot tears sliding down my cheeks which soak into Gale's t-shirt. He cradles me against him, waiting till I stop crying, one hand occasionally stroking my hair in an attempt to calm me down.

When I become silent, except for my erratic breathing and hiccups, Gale takes my face in his hands and looks at me. Each of his palms are the size of my cheeks, and they feel nice on my skin, warm, comforting. His grey eyes search my face, not quite knowing what to do; does he comfort me, or will I cry again? Does he talk about the Capitol, or will that make me more upset? Or will he simply stand here, holding my head in his hands, looking at me, trying to make his looking convey words?

I look back for a few seconds, until I hear someone clear their throat. I flinch and turn around, Gale' hands falling away from me. My father is in the doorway, his face showing a mixture of surprise, frustration, and anger.

"Madge?" He asks quietly. He uses that tone that I haven't heard a lot of adults use – when you know that they are seriously angry, just by how they talk. They don't raise their voice, or shout. They simply look you in the eye and speak in a calm, angry manner.

I pull myself away from Gale, and take a step towards my father.

"Daddy-" I use that name to somehow comfort him, "I can explain,"

"Perhaps I should leave." Gale says uncomfortably, half to my father, half to me.

"No." My father replies firmly. "Stay." I flinch and look away.

"Father, this is Gale, my…" I don't know how to finish this sentence. What is Gale to me? And what am I to him?

A short, awkward silence follows, in which my father's eyes flicker back and forth between Gale and I.

Surprisingly, Gale breaks the silence by extending his hand towards my father. His voice sounds confident, but I can hear a slight tremor in it. I send him a warning glance, but he isn't looking at me. He's focused on my father, who stares at the hand being offered to him.

"Mr. Undersee, my name is Gale Hawthorne, and your daughter and I are in the beginnings of a relationship. We wanted to wait for the right moment to speak to you about it." He lies smoothly, and I stare at him as he talks. He's speaking so strangely, each word pronounced properly, not like he's from the Seam. I guess he's trying to impress my father, who is stony-faced, although he looks less angry. However, he doesn't move to shake Gale's hand, who awkwardly lets it drop to his side.

"Hm." He says, examining Gale like a hawk, taking in every detail. He looks and looks and looks, until he lets out a long sigh, and shifts his gaze towards me.

"Madge, come up to my office." He says quietly, before turning around and leaving the room. I look at Gale, trying to say 'I'm sorry', with my eyes, without using any words. He seems to understand, and nods, only a slight inclination of his head. Wordlessly I follow my father out of the room and up the stairs.

As I enter his office, he shuts the door behind me.

"Madge," he begins, taking a deep breath. He pauses for a second before continuing.

"Are you happy?" The question takes me by surprise. I expected yelling, being told that I could never see Gale again, that I should never trust someone from the Seam. But instead, he asks if I am _happy_?

"…Yes, I am." I say. I think of the tree in the forest, the day I spent lunch with Gale's friends, all the walks home. I think of Katniss being lifted into the hovercraft with Peeta at her side, and I decide that I am telling the truth.

"And why is that?" He asks, peering at my face.

"…I'm not alone anymore." I answer, looking away, out of the window to my right. Grey clouds hang in the sky, but the occasional patch of sunlight is filtering through.

My father lets out a sigh, and I look back at him, noticing how tired he is. I see dark circles under his eyes that I have never realised were there before, the way his posture sags. A slight stubble decorates his face, suggesting that he hasn't bothered to shave in a while. I suppose that the Capitol must have been putting a lot of pressure on the Districts recently, and to ours especially, what with Katniss and Peeta winning the Games (by use of nightlock).

He nods, and goes and sits at his desk. I realise that this is some form of dismissal, but I won't accept it.

"Is that a yes, or a no, Dad?" I don't usually call him by that name, 'Dad'. It always seemed too informal to me, too casual for a Mayor. But I use the name in the hope that it might comfort him in some way.

"That's a… I suppose I'm saying yes, Madge. I want you to be happy. You're my daughter, and I realise that I have neglected that fact for a while now. And I'm sorry, Madge. I'm sorry."

I didn't expect this. I feel tears in my eyes, but I don't let them fall. My father looks at some papers in front of him, but I can see that he isn't reading them. I want to say I forgive you, or I love you, or something like that. But instead, as I stumble towards the door, I manage to utter a single 'thank you.".

As I close the door behind me, I made a silent promise to be a better daughter to him.

**I don't really know where this came from, Madge and her father wanting to repair their relationship, but yeah. I worked hard on this chapter, so please drop me a review if you can! **

**(you can even review if you don't have an account on this site). **


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm sorry it's been so long since the last update! . I got glandular fever and missed a lot of school so they sent me work for the summer which I've been trying to do amongst various bloodtests and stuff, ew. **

**Chapter 18**

I wake slowly from a deep sleep, and stretch slowly before opening my eyes, which squint against the sunlight which streams in from the window. I silently curse myself for forgetting to close the curtains last night, and allow myself a few luxurious minutes of lying in bed before I got up.

After I had spoken with my father, Gale had left shortly after, once I had explained what had happened. He seemed relieved, although Toby had been put into an unusually quiet mood. I had dismissed this and gone to bed straight away, exhausted by the day's events. Despite my tiredness, I had lain awake for a long time, mulling over Katniss and Peeta's victory, the nightlock, and how the Capitol would react.

I turned over and buried my face in my pillow, not allowing myself to think about the

Capitol, and who would be punished for what the two victors did. Instead I let my mind wander to breakfast, and realise how hungry I am. With a sigh, I shove the covers off me and wander downstairs, to find Toby in the kitchen as usual. Normally I like to help him with breakfast preparations, but today I felt especially lazy, and left him to it as he cooked my requested bacon.

I settle myself onto the sofa in front of the TV. As soon as I switch it on, I see Katniss and Peeta's faces, and a banner at the bottom of the screen announcing that the interviews would be held as soon as Peeta's leg was fixed. Normally the interviews were the next day, unless the victor was injured and needed to be treated.

I relax slowly, my eyes glazing over, not really watching the TV, but I at least knew vaguely what was going on. After a while Toby comes in with my breakfast, and he senses that I am not in a talkative mood, and leaves me to it.

When I've finished, I move sluggishly upstairs to the bathroom, where I have an extremely long shower. Despite my long sleep last night, I still feel tired. I greet my father on the way to my bedroom, who has emerged from his study to get breakfast. I wasn't sure whether it would be awkward between us, and it wasn't that bad.

Instead of getting dressed, I get back into bed with the towel wrapped round me. I lie there for a while until I find the motivation to get up and get dressed, deciding that I've been lazy enough today. As I get dressed, I wonder what I'm going to do that day. Katniss and Peeta wouldn't be home for a while, and the only person I wanted to see was Gale, but I had no idea if he was busy today. We would have no school this week, because of the results of the Games, which left me nothing to do for seven days.

I eventually decided to go round to his house, hoping I remembered the way correctly. A lot of the Seam looked the same, but it hadn't seemed to far away from the Town when Gale and I had gone there.

I let Toby know where I'm going, and he waggles his eyebrows at me as I tell him.

"Going to see the boyfriend, Madge?" He says, grinning. I can't help but smile before shaking my head and walking out the door - although before I shut it I hear him say "You're not denying that he's your boyfriend!".

It's a hot day, and soon enough I've taken off my jacket. The sky is a light blue with only the occasional cloud crossing it, and as it nears midday the air begins to shimmer with the heat.

When I reach the square, I stop and get some water before continuing on. I settle into a reasonably quick pace, and reach the Seam in a few minutes. The buildings become more and more broken as I twist and turn through the streets, the road gone, only dirt beneath my feet.

Suddenly, I stop in my tracks, frozen. A figure stands in front of me, his arms folded and his cold eyes bearing down on me. It's Zach.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Madge." He says slowly. I shiver, despite the heat. He takes a step forwards to me, and I instinctively take a step back. He frowns when I do this, and moves quicker until we're only a few inches apart, my back against building. He grabs my arm with one hand, his grip far tighter than I'm comfortable with. He shoves his face into mine, and I can feel his hot breath wash across my face. I want to pull away, I want to get away from him but I can't, his grip on my arm is tightening even more.

"Are you scared, Madge?" He whispers. "Does this hurt?" He twists my arm slightly, and I let out a gasp.

"Perhaps I should make you more comfortable." He hisses, moving his head to my neck, breathing slowly. I look around me franticly, but the street is empty of people. Zach had chosen a one of the smaller, quiet streets of the Seam. He had planned this, and with each breath I feel on my neck I become more and more panicked.

"Stop, Zach." I try to sound like I'm not scared, but my voice comes out small and high-pitched. As I say it I feel his lips curl into a smirk against my neck, and my eyes begin to water in frustration. This wasn't fair. He twists my arm further and I start to cry.

"Gale," I croak. "Gale!" I say again, my voice stronger this time. "Gale!" I try again, my voice a scream this time. Zach snarls and presses his hand to my mouth, slamming my head against the wall behind me at the same time. I try and speak again but Zach twists my arm again and hisses for me to be quiet.

Suddenly I hear quiet, running footsteps, ones that could only belong to a child. My eyes search the street frantically, desperately hoping that they would appear and help me.

Then, on the left end of the street, I see a girl appear, in a white dress that stands out against the browns and greys of her surroundings. Blonde hair frames her face and falls to her shoulders, and her wide brown eyes stare at me. It takes me a second to realise who this girl is - it's Prim.

I jerk my head to the side and Zach's hand momentarily slips away from my mouth, giving me just enough time to shout,

"Get Gale!" And then my mouth is covered again, my head smacked against the wall. Zach is furious, and I can't see whether Prim has gone or not. Zach stares into my eyes for a few moments, and a silence follows. Then, out of nowhere, he slaps me, hard. My head whips to the side and fresh tears sting my eyes, my breath coming short and in gasps.

"No-one's coming to help you, Mayor's daughter." He hisses, twisting one hand in my hair, pulling my head back so that I'm forced to look at him. "Nobody cares about you, Madge." He keeps one hand in my hair and trails the other down the side of my body. I want to push him away, to fight back, but I can't. I don't want him to hurt me again.

Suddenly his body is wrenched away from mine, and Zach is thrown onto the ground. I scream in pain because when he was pulled away from me as his hand had still been tangled in my hair, and I can see a small amount of it still in Zach's clenched fist. After that everything got blurry because I started to cry. I fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, shaking and crying, trying to block out the sounds of someone being hit repeatedly.

Eventually it becomes quiet, and someone softly touches my shoulder. I flinch and move away from them, refusing to look and see who it is. I don't care. I don't want anyone to touch me.

"Madge." They whisper. Their voice sounds broken. "Madge, look at me." They sound... familiar. My body reacts to this voice. I move my head slightly to the side and peek through my hair at this person. It's Gale.

I don't know why, but the sight of him makes me start crying again. His arms wrap round me and this time, I don't shy away from his touch, I savour it. I push myself closer into him, and he rests his cheek on the top of my head.

"Madge, Madge, Madge," He whispers my name over and over, his voice tense and sad, like he's trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know he would be here, I didn't know..." I let him keep talking. I didn't want to accept his apologies, simply because he had nothing to be sorry for. But I need his voice, I need his comfort, I need his arms around me. I need to be told that everything's going to be okay.

Eventually I stop crying, and start to shake slightly. I realise that I'm going into shock.

After I've been silent for a while, Gale picks me up. He's incredibly gentle in the way he handles me, like I could break any second if he didn't hold me in exactly the right way. He starts to walk slowly, my head against his chest, my eyes open and staring into the space in front of me. I can hear his heart; it's beating quickly. I wonder what my heartbeat sounds like right now.

After a while Gale stops walking, and shifts his weight around underneath me. Then we're surrounded by a warm darkness, and it is much quieter here. Gale carries me through this darkness till he stops again, and then I feel myself being lowered. I realise that he is putting me on a bed - we're in his house.

Without another word, Gale lays down next to me and pulls a blanket over us. I feel his arms wrap round my waist and we both pretend that I'm not shaking.

**I hate to cut this chapter off here, but it's getting late and yeah. Also I'm sorry for it being a bit of a depressing chapter but I promise it will get happier as Gale helps Madge recover. **

**Read and review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm trying to be nice with a quick(ish) update. I'm wondering if I should do all three books, or just the first one? **

**I forgot to do a disclaimer last time. I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 19**

We lie there in silence for a while. I listen to my breathing, and notice that it is much quicker than Gale's, which I guess might be a part of the shock that I think I'm in. I decide to try to match my breathing with his, taking deep, even breaths. It feels forced, but eventually it becomes more natural and I don't have to copy him anymore.

It seems that Gale was listening to my breathing too. As soon as I feel myself relax, he shifts his weight around and pulls me closer against him. My back is to him, and his arms are around my waist.

"Madge." He whispers after a few moments of silence. "Madge, I'm so sorry." He sounds so sad, and I'm surprised how much it hurts to hear it. I want to say something, tell him he has nothing to be sorry for, that it was my fault - but something holds me back. The words get caught in my throat, and instead I start to cry quietly. Gale's arms tighten around me.

"Please don't cry, Madge. Please." He whispers. His voice is truly broken now. I start to shuffle round weakly, so that I can face him. When I become still again, Gale raises one hand and very slowly touches my cheek. I try to stop from flinching, but I can't help it. Every touch reminds me of how Zach touched me, and it brings back a ghost of the panic I felt in that moment. Gale's eyes mirror the pain in mine, and I wish that I could be okay for him. I can't bear hurting him like this.

Gale tries again, moving his hand even slower this time. Gently, he rests his palm against my cheek, watching me closely to see how I react. My breathing accelerates, but other than that, nothing happens. Slowly, Gale moves his thumb across my cheek and wipes a tear away.

"I hate to see you hurting like this." He whispers. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, I should've been able to stop him, I-"

"Don't." I manage to croak. "Don't, Gale. You have nothing to be sorry for." He tenses when I say this, and frowns.

"You might think otherwise," my voice gathers strength as I continue, "but it's not true. Without you, I don't know what would have happened to me..." I trail off, trying not to think about what Zach would have done to me, had Prim not walked onto that street. Gale shudders slightly, and pulls me closer to him again.

"Did he hurt you?" He asks quietly.

"No, I..." I remember my arm, and lift it up so I can see it. My eyes widen in surprise, and Gale inhales sharply. Black and purple bruises are scattered across my arm from where Zach had held it.

"...Oh..." I say, staring at it. I think I begin to come out of shock, as my arm starts to hurt a lot. It aches from my shoulder to my wrist, and I feel fresh tears begin to form in my eyes. I try to blink them away and move my hand to the back of my head, where Zach had hit it off of the wall. I flinch when I touch there, and feel that I have a lump from where it had been hit. I run my fingers over my hair and realise that there's blood in it.

"My head..." I whisper, pulling my hand away and examining it. A small amount of fresh blood decorates my fingertips, and I stare at them, surprised by the sight of my own blood.

Gale grimaces when he sees this. He shifts around and sits up slowly, so as not to scare me.

"We need to get you to a doctor." He says, no longer sounding sad. Instead, he sounds angry.

"I can't go to the doctor's, they'll tell my father." I say quickly. How could I begin to explain Zach to him? Talking to him about Gale had been hard enough.

"Madge," Gale sighs, running one hand through his already messy hair. "Your father is going to find out about this. He'd notice your arm." I glance at my arm and sigh.

"And anyway," he continues, "I didn't mean the doctor from the Town. I meant Mrs. Everdeen."

"Ah." I say quietly. I had never met Katniss's mother, and I wasn't exactly excited to meet her. I had been friends with her daughter (although I questioned whether this friendship would remain once Katniss came home), but that didn't change the fact that I was from the Town. Many people from the Seam regarded us with hostility, probably because of the Games. Their children were far more likely to be picked than I was, and I wished it wasn't like that. It was unfair, I understood that, but it couldn't be changed.

Gale wraps one arm round my shoulders, and begins to lift me into a sitting position.

"Can you walk?" He asks.

"I don't know..." I say slowly, swinging my feet over the side of the bed, and placing them on the wooden floor. I glance around myself, and take in my surroundings. I assume that this is Gale's bedroom. There's one window, but it's small and the curtains are drawn. There are three pieces of furniture in the room: the bed, an old wardrobe, and a chair in the corner. I can't help but compare it to my room, and shake my head quickly to get rid of the thought. I flinch when I do this, as it hurts my head, and I automatically move my hand to it.

"Are you okay?" Gale asks quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, shaking my head slower this time. I push my weight down onto my heels and rise slowly, wondering if my head injury would have an affect on my balance and whether I could walk. I straighten and suddenly my head feels light, and I lose my balance. Gale catches me, his arms fastening round my waist tightly. He picks me up, one arm under my legs, one under my back, where my shoulder blades are.

"You look so pale," he whispers sadly.

"I'm pale anyway." I say, managing a small smile, which he does not return. I guess he isn't in the mood for jokes, even my pathetic ones.

He walks slowly, trying not to jolt me. I'm filled with curiosity to see the rest of his house - after all, I had only been there once before - but I close my eyes and let my neck relax, my head hanging backwards.

When Gale opens the door, my eyelids are filled with light, and I screw my eyes up against the sudden change. Gale moves quicker now, but he still holds me gently.

After about five minutes, he stops. Unable to knock on the Everdeen's door, he calls out Prim's name. Seconds later, she opens the door. I want to say hello to her, to thank her for getting Gale for me, but I feel completely drained of energy. My head still feels light.

"Could you get your mother for me?" Gale asks quietly. Prim doesn't say anything, so I assume she nods, and I can hear her walk away. Gale enters the house and nudges the door shut with his foot behind him. He walks for a few more seconds, then stops again. This time, a different voice speaks.

"What happened, Gale?" I assume this is Katniss's mother. I feel Gale lower my body onto what feels like a wooden table, and I open my eyes slowly, my vision slightly blurry. A tall woman stands above me, her blonde hair scraped back into a tight bun. I notice that small strands have escaped and trail down the back of her neck. Opposite her stands Gale, who is looking at the woman.

"Zach, he... He corned her, and... He hurt her. She's bashed her head, and her arm..." I watch him indicate towards my arm, which is limp by my side. A few moments later, I feel a pair of cold hands run over my arm, so softly I barely feel it. She turns my arm over and I wince, my shoulder protesting. I remember the way Zach twisted it, and hold back a shudder.

Next, Mrs. Everdeen rolls me onto my side, working silently. I guess she understands that I'm not in the mood for talking right now. She touches the cut on my head, and the coldness of her hands feels good against my skin.

"How long since it happened?" She asks Gale as she rolls me onto my front again.

"About an hour." He says quietly. He's moved out of my vision, and I assume he's leaning against a wall somewhere.

"Her head is swollen, and there's a cut, although it's not too bad. It's too late to use ice to stop the swelling... Your arm has been twisted, correct?" This is the first time she has addressed me.

"Yeah.. I mean yes." I say, trying to be polite. Mrs. Everdeen doesn't seem to notice though, and moves away from the table. I hear her rummaging through a cupboard as she begins to speak to Gale again.

"The swelling is good, it means she's less likely to have any internal damage. I'll clean the cut, but she doesn't need stitches. She'll need to rest for a while, and someone will have to be with her in case she has concussion. I can't do much for her arm... Her shoulder will feel better in a few days, but these bruises..."

I feel some cold water being poured onto my head, and I let out a small gasp in surprise. Mrs. Everdeen doesn't react to this, and moves to my arm. I feel some kind of cream being rubbed into the bruised areas, and I try not to wince when she touches the most painful bits. Finally she takes a bandage and wraps it round my arm, and I can't help but let out a small whimper when she ties it. I hear Gale walk over to me, and then my hand is in his.

"It's okay, Madge. You're gonna be okay." He sounds like he's both reassuring me and him, but I ignore this. I just focus on his face above me, and concentrate on my breathing.

"That's all I can do, Gale. I'm sorry I can't do more." Mrs. Everdeen sounds genuinely apologetic, and I look at her gratefully. It was incredibly generous of her to help me, not only a stranger, but someone from the Town. I begin to sit up, and feel Gale press his hand against my chest, pushing me down again.

"No, it's okay. I can do it." I say, propping myself up on my good elbow. Gale looks worried, but doesn't move to stop me. I turn my gaze to Mrs. Everdeen, who has been watching me quietly.

"Thank you. This is unbelievably generous of you; I'll repay you as soon as I can..." I say, wishing I had brought some money. Then again, I hadn't expected to end up here.

Mrs. Everdeen waved her hand at me in dismissal.

"It's fine." She says quietly. "I only used one strip of bandage and some water, hardly expensive items." I still wished that she hadn't had to use them on me. I knew that even the smallest things were valuable to the people here in the Seam.

"No, I want to repay you." I say firmly. "And I will." She nods gratefully, and I look at Gale.

"Where do we go now?" I ask.

"To your house, I guess," he says, sighing. I sigh too, knowing that I'll have to explain myself to my father when we got there, or at least to Toby. Before I can protest, Gale picks my up again, the same way as he did last time.

"Thank you, Mrs. Everdeen. It means a lot to me that you helped her." He says. He sounds truly grateful, and she smiles slightly at him, eyeing us both with interest. Has she guessed that we're together?

"Don't mention it, Gale. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours." She smiles at me, properly this time, and I return it. "Stay with her if you can, or get someone else to stay with her. If she says she feels dizzy, or her head continues to hurt for at least a day, then bring her back here."

Gale nods, and walks out into the other room. He calls goodbye over his shoulder and leaves quickly.

"How do we explain all this to my father?" I groan.

"I don't know." Gale says, looking at me worriedly. "How do you feel?"

"I feel... Pretty good, actually. I mean my head hurts, but less than before. And my arm and shoulder don't hurt too much unless I move them." I say, looking back up at him. It's in that moment that I realise just how much he cares about me, and I him. There's something about the way he looks at me every minute or so, checking that I'm okay. As he walks, I watch him, studying his features. As we reach my street, my grip on him tightens, desperately hoping that I won't have to let go soon.

**I know, crappy ending to the chapter, but whatever. I'm kind of wishing that Zach had been meaner to her, maybe put her in hospital or something, but I don't know if District 12 has a hospital? **

**Maybe he'll attack her again at some point, I'm not sure. **

**Read and review! Your reviews make me really happy ^.^**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you for the reviews guys! Keep em' coming. **

**I was thinking about whether or not to do all three of the books, and I've decided that it depends on how popular this story becomes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. Suzanne Collins does. **

**Chapter 20**

Gale has to put me down so that he can knock on my front door, so I lean myself heavily on him, transferring all my weight to him. He doesn't seem to mind, and wraps one arm around my waist, steadying me.

After a few seconds I hear footsteps, and then the door opens. I breath a sigh of relief as I realise that it is Toby standing in front of us, and not my father.

"What's happened, Madge?" He asks, his eyes running over me, taking in my pale face, my bandaged arm, Gale's arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

"I'll explain when we get in." Gale says quietly, before turning to me. "Can you walk?"

I notice that Toby raises his eyebrows when Gale says this, but he makes no comment. I nod, and begin moving slowly, Gale taking my weight off of my feet. We make it to the sofa which sits opposite to the TV, and I sit down heavily. My breathing slows to a regular pace, and I only notice when it's too late that Gale and Toby have moved into the kitchen so that they can talk without me hearing them. Anger bubbles up inside me. I'm insulted that they feel they need to speak about what happened to me, without me even being present.

Perhaps Gale thinks that talking about it would upset me? I think about this for a few seconds, then shake my head. The shock has long worn off, and I thought I would be okay. Besides, I was getting sick of the whole 'invalid' thing.

I push myself off the sofa, and stand still for a few seconds, waiting to if I will feel dizzy or lightheaded. I don't, but the cut on my head starts to throb, and I notice that I can hear my pulse in my head. I start to walk towards the kitchen slowly, trying to ignore the pain that is getting steadily worse with each step I take.

I pause in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. Gale and Toby are sitting at the kitchen island, each wearing serious, concerned faces. They don't seem awkward around each other, like I thought they would be. In fact, it's quite the opposite; despite the tense situation, they seem comfortable talking to each other. I don't know why this seems so odd to me, but it does.

I can hear what they're talking about – Gale is explaining to Toby that Zach began following me in school, which led up to him harassing me in the Seam.

"What was she doing there?" Toby asks quietly.

"I assume she was coming to see me." Gale answers, equally as quietly. I realise that they're speaking so quietly because they don't want me to overhear them, and for some reason this annoys me. I stand up straight and clear my throat. Gale and Toby stop talking to each other immediately, and turn and stare at me.

"Mind if I join this conversation?" I ask coolly. They glance at each other quickly, and Gale sighs, before nodding and beckoning me closer. He pulls a chair out next to him, and I walk over and sit.

"Zach assaulted Madge on a street not too far from my house." Gale continues, slipping my hand into his under the table. I squeeze his hand lightly, and he squeezes back. "Prim saw them and ran to get me. When I got there, I realised what was happening and… disposed of Zach." He says, grimacing. I wonder what 'disposed' means exactly. I never saw what happened after Gale had pulled Zach off me.

"What did you do?" I ask in a small voice.

"I pulled him off you, and I hit him a bit, I suppose." Gale sighs and uses his free hand to run his fingers through his hair slowly. "He deserved it, Madge. I just hope it was enough to keep him away from you from now on."

I think about this for a while, not really sure what to say. How could I know that Zach would leave me alone now? How could I know that what happened today wouldn't happen again?

I shudder slightly, and Gale notices. He squeezes my hand again, and begins rubbing circles against the palm of my hand with his thumb.

"Well, we might need a more permanent method of keeping him away." Toby sighs.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I don't know, Madge." Toby sighs again. I've never seen him look so serious. "I'll tell your father, and he'll do something about it."

"Okay." I say.

We continue talking like this for a while. Eventually Gale insists I go to bed, having noticed my yawns and sighs of boredom. When he tries to carry me up the stairs, I insist that I walk up on my own. He walks behind me, arms outstretched, ready to catch me in case I fall.

I get into bed still wearing my clothes, not bothering to change. Gale takes the seat that sits in front of my mirror and moves it so that it is beside my bed. He sits down, and glances about himself. I can't help but notice how out of place he is here in my room. He's too big for the chair he's sitting on, and his dark brown and grey clothes contrast immensely against the cream walls and light-coloured furniture of my room. Gale leans over and slips my hand into his, and I look at them. My pale, slender hand appears so different to his tan, well worked, slightly dirty hand.

_We're so different. _

"You okay, Madge? Does your head hurt?" Gale asks. I glance up at him and study his face, which currently looks concerned.

"I'm fine." I say, managing to smile at him. "I'm just… thinking."

How could I expect us to not be different? We were from completely different backgrounds, different parts of District Twelve, born into completely different families.

Despite all these differences, these things that separated us, we were together. And this time, I smiled properly at Gale, and he smiled back.

"Do you want to sleep for a bit, Madge?" He asks. I nod and shuffle deeper under the covers, but I still keep hold of his hand. Normally I'd feel weird with someone in my room while I slept, but I felt comfortable around Gale.

"Will you stay with me?" I mumble, half asleep already.

"I promise." Gale says firmly, squeezing my hand tightly. I close my eyes and turn my head away from him, so that it faces the wall. It only takes a few seconds for me to fall asleep.

* * *

I find myself in a dark room with no walls. The darkness completely surrounds me, and I am alone. I realise then that I am dreaming, and I wonder whether this is a nightmare or a happy dream.

After a few short moments, I can hear footsteps coming towards me. I spin round, trying to see where it's coming from, but all there is is darkness.

I turn again and suddenly see something in the distance. It's a flicker of light, something pale. The shape becomes bigger, as the footsteps become louder. Finally I realise it's a person, but who is it? They're tall, and a man…I think.

I squint into the darkness, trying to see their face. I can make out light brown hair, and dark eyes, and…

I gasp and take a step back. The man smiles at me, not a gentle, reassuring smile, but a malicious smile. I start to move backwards as he moves forwards, but every time I take a step away from him, he seems to take two towards me.

"No-" I managed to stutter. "Please leave me alone… Please." I whisper. The man's smile widens as I say this. I can hear the desperate tone in my voice.

I feel my foot catch on to something, and I trip, falling onto my back. I wonder for a second why my fall didn't hurt, having forgotten that this was a dream, but my attention was instantly back on the man. He wasn't just any man; he was Zach.

I try to crawl away, but he's almost upon me. I feel a hand touch my ankle, and I let out a small scream. I struggle, thrashing my foot from one side to the other, but Zach's grip on me tightens with every movement.

"Gale!" I scream, as Zach grabs my waist and begins to haul me off the ground. I scream his name again as I feel a hand grasp my arm and twist it whilst pulling me up, and I let out a guttural whimper.

* * *

I wake covered in cold sweat, sitting up in my bed, breathing quickly and heavily. I can hear my heartbeat in my head, and my face is wet, like I've been crying. I look to my right, where my window is, and see that it's raining heavily, black clouds decorating the sky, and flashes of lighting striking out every few seconds. I quickly turn to my left and realise that the chair next to my bed is empty; Gale has gone. He's left me, and broken his promise. He wasn't there to help me in my dream, and he isn't here to help me now.

I curl up into a tight ball, my back resting against the corner of my wall. I draw the covers over my head and flinch every time lighting flashes outside, and I realise that I'm shaking slightly. I thought I was okay after what happened with Zach, but I'm not. I'm scared of him, scared of what he might do to me if he sees me again, despite Gale beating him up.

* * *

I don't know how long I sit there, but I can guess it's for at least a few hours. The storm rages on for the entire time that I am curled against the wall. I keep the blanket over my head, despite how hot it is underneath it. I'm scared to move it, to see the empty chair, to see Gale's broken promise.

After a while I hear my door open slowly, and my breathing accelerates rapidly. My whole body tenses, and I immediately think of Zach.

_He's come to get me. He's come to finish what he started earlier. _

I feel a tear slip down my cheek as I can hear footsteps moving slowly towards the bed. I can't help but notice how they sound exactly the same as the ones in my dream.

The blankets in front of my face twist, and I know that someone is holding onto it, and are about to pull it off of me.

I let out a sob as the blanket is pulled away from me in one fluid motion, and I bury my face in my knees, which had been tucked under my chin, not wanting to see Zach's face. I wait for his touch, his voice in my ear, his breath on my skin. But nothing happens.

"Madge?" A voice asks softly between my sobs. I know whose voice that is, and it's not Zach's. But I don't want to look up, I don't want to be disappointed. It can't be Gale, Gale left, Gale broke his promise.

"Madge." He repeats my name again, his voice breaking in the middle of it. "Madge, I'm so sorry." I can feel him sit on my bed, the bedsprings groaning in protest.

"Madge…" He touches my shoulder gently, and I don't flinch like I expect myself to. Gale takes this as a good sign and wraps both of his strong arms around me, pulling me away from the corner and against his chest. I don't want to accept his hug, and I don't want to enjoy his comfort, but I do, and I bury my face in his shoulder. I want to be angry with him for leaving me, but I can't.

"Madge, Madge, Madge," he whispers my name over and over in my ear, his voice choked with tears.

"You left." I whisper once my sobs have subsided to silent tears and the occasional hiccup. "You promised you wouldn't. And you left."

Gale's arms tighten around me.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Madge, I had no idea you would wake up, you were sleeping so deeply… I just went to my house to explain to my mother where I was, why I was there, and to get some new clothes… I'm sorry Madge." He whispers, burying his face in my hair and inhaling slowly.

I stay silent for a while, thinking about this. It wasn't unreasonable that he left, and he obviously had to let Hazelle know where he was at this time of night, in this weather. I still couldn't help but think of him sneaking off. He probably assumed that he would never tell me.

I sigh, and wait till the tears stop before I speak again.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. Gale stiffens.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He says firmly, nuzzling me.

"I'm sorry for being angry with you," I say quietly.

"I couldn't even tell that you were angry with me, Madge. You're terrible at holding grudges, we both know that." He replies, and I feel a weak smile form on my lips.

"I just…" I sigh. "I'm sorry. Okay? Will you forgive me?"

"Of course I will, Madge." Gale says, kissing the top of my head. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I do." I say quietly. "Are you going to leave again?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer. I knew it was selfish, but I wanted him to stay here for the whole night.

"I'll stay here with you as long as you want me." He says, gently placing his hand under my chin and lifting my face up so that my eyes are looking into his.

"Do you mean that?" I ask quietly.

"I do." Gale replies firmly, yet quietly. When he speaks, I can feel his breath on my lips. I expect this to scare me, as it reminds me of Zach, but I only shiver slightly, not from fear, but from anticipation. I realise that I want him to kiss me, that I'm not scared of his touch like I was earlier.

Our heads move closer together till our lips are less than a centimetre apart, and Gale pauses.

"Are you okay with this?" He whispers. I nod slightly, my eyes watching his. When he closes them, I close mine, and lean in slightly.

Gale brushes his lips so gently against mine that I barely feel it, not wanting to make me afraid. I move my lips against his, tasting him, waiting to see if I will recoil. But with each small kiss, Zach slips further and further from my mind, and I become more and more comfortable in Gale's arms.

**Sorry this update was so late. I didn't like how the chapter was turning out, until I wrote the last bit. **

**Please read and review, it makes me feel so happy when I get a review from you guys! c:**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey again. Updates are slow, but then again, so are the reviews ;)**

**Summer work is the unfairest of unfair (this is also keeping me from updating, sorry). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 21**

I feel myself gradually drifting into consciousness, waking slowly. I keep my eyes shut, but I am aware of the light that penetrates my eyelids. The light is dimmer than it should be; I realise that at some point, Gale must have shut the curtains.

_Gale. _

I am suddenly acutely aware of him. He's not sitting beside my bed anymore, he's in it – my back is to his chest, and I can feel the warmth radiating from his body, so close to mine. One of his arms is wrapped around my waist, holding me against him. His steady, even breaths tell me that he's still sleeping.

I make sure that I don't move, so that I don't disturb him. I notice how relaxed I am, how effortless it feels to be like this with him, to be so close. A small smile crosses my lips, and I allow myself to drift back into a light sleep.

The next time I open my eyes, I wake up properly. The light has increased in brightness, although the curtains have not been opened yet. Instead of turning to see if Gale is awake, I listen to his breathing, and notice that it is different from before.

I turn slowly, shuffling awkwardly under the covers so that his hand doesn't move from my waist. My eyes flicker up to his Seam grey ones, and we both smile at each other.

Gale has propped himself up on one elbow, and I realise that he must have been watching me while I slept. This annoys me, but at the same time, makes me feel happy. It is a very odd feeling.

"Hey," I say softly.

"Hey." He replies, equally as softly. We lie there for a while, just watching each other, not talking. It should be awkward, but it isn't; it's peaceful.

Eventually I rest my head on the pillow, and Gale does the same, our gaze never moving from each other. I move my hand so that it rests on his waist. It feels nice, warm, comfortable.

I look away from him a second, thinking of what to say. Should I say anything? Would it ruin… This, whatever it was?

"Thank you for last night," I eventually manage to say. "Thank you for helping me." Gale doesn't say anything for a second, then moves his hand from my waist to my chin, and gently tilts my face upwards so that my eyes meet his once again.

"I'm sorry for leaving, for breaking my promise." He says quietly. I can see in his eyes that he really means it, and I let out a small sigh.

"It's fine, Gale. I overreacted. I should have realised where you had gone, and I shouldn't have been angry with you for doing it. I just wasn't thinking straight." I say quietly.

"It's perfectly okay for you to not think straight every now and then, Madge. Especially now, after what happened…" His voice trails off, and his eyes flicker across my face, wondering if mentioning what happened would upset me. I shake my head slowly, not breaking eye contact with him.

"So are we okay now?" I ask, with a small smile. Gale answers with a grin,

"We're more than okay, Madge." And with that he leans in and lightly presses his lips to mine, a small, gentle kiss. It comforts me, and when he pulls away, I snuggle closer, my head tucked under my chin, against his chest. Gale moves so both his arms are around me tightly, and we lie there peacefully for a while.

When it becomes lunch time, we emerge from the covers slowly. I sit next to Gale on the edge of the bed, one of my hands entwined in his. I rest my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes for a brief moment.

"How is it-" I pause to yawn, "-possible that even after sleeping for so long, I'm still tired?" Gale chuckles and slips his hand from mine so that he can put it round my shoulders.

"It's called being a teenager, Madge." He says, smiling. I smile too, and stand up. I stretch slowly, groaning slightly as I feel my joints protest at the movement.

"I'm gonna have a shower," I say, walking towards the door. I cast a glance over my shoulder at Gale, who is still sitting on the bed.

"I'll be waiting right here for you." He replies softly.

I shut the door behind me and walk across the landing to the bathroom. Once I've stripped off my clothes and looked at them I realise how disgusting they are – there's blood on the neck of my shirt from where I hit my head, they're dirty, and even worse, the sleeve of my shirt is ripped. I sigh and push the offending clothes into a corner, not bothering to care too much about them.

I try and be quick in the shower so that Gale doesn't have to wait long, but I can't help but stand there for a few extra seconds, letting the hot water wash over me. When I come out the shower I feel relaxed, my muscles no longer sore. I look at my crumpled clothes, and realise that I didn't bring any spares.

When I walk into my room with a towel wrapped tightly around my body, I try not to blush when I see Gale raise his eyebrows and grin at me. He's sitting exactly where he was when I left the room, and I wonder if he moved at all.

Now, he gets up and comes and hugs me, burying his face in my shoulder.

"You look hot." He whispers in my ear. If I wasn't blushing before, I sure was now. My face felt unbelievably hot and I didn't trust myself to look at him, in case I blushed even more.

I giggle nervously, and Gale chuckles. His arms are tight around me, and show no sign of letting go.

"Gale," I begin to protest, struggling against his grip. "I need to get dressed."

"Fine," he sighs, sitting back down on the bed. I stare at him for a few seconds, and he stares back.

"Aren't you going to leave?" I say, raising my eyebrows. Now it's Gale's turn to be embarrassed. He ducks his head down and walks out the door quickly, muttering a few hasty apologies as he goes. I smile, and begin to pick out some clothes.

When I open my bedroom door, I find that Gale is not there. I can't imagine why he would go into any of the other bedrooms, so I walk downstairs. I can hear people talking in the kitchen, and I assume it's Toby and Gale.

I go in and find them by the cooker, creating something which smells like bacon and eggs. I can't help but hope it is for me; I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning.

Gale smiles at me as I come in, and resumes talking with Toby. Their tone is light and cheerful, almost… friendly.

"Gale," I say quietly. He turns around and smiles at me questioningly. "Do you and Toby know each other?"

They both start to laugh, and I'm taken aback. I didn't ask something stupid, did I?

I wait for their laughter to die down, and then I speak again.

"Well, do you?"

"We actually grew up together," Toby explains, grinning at Gale. "I'm a bit older than Gale, but I left school early and managed to get a job here through various… arrangements." His tone makes me wonder what these 'arrangements' were, but I ignore it for now.

"I see." I say, smiling at the pair of them. Gale chuckles and they continue with their cooking and talking. I see no reason for me to be there, so I go and sit on the sofa in the TV room.

The interviews are being shown; I must have missed them from yesterday. Katniss is in a yellow dress, and Peeta in a blue suit. They look good together, like a couple. I smile to myself and watch them answer Caesar's questions. Their answers seem honest enough, but I can tell they're doing it for the crowd. They talk about how they couldn't imagine a world without each other, how they couldn't bear to be without one another. I watch Katniss closely, and she shows all the right emotions. She gazes lovingly at Peeta, and talks about all of her feelings towards him. Some of the lines are far too cheesy for my taste. But I refuse to believe it. This is Katniss pretending for the Capitol; I do not think she has changed in her time there. I can still see my friend up there, the girl from District Twelve.

I hear a sharp intake of breath from behind me, which startles me. My head whips round to see Gale standing in the doorway, stony-faced.

"It's for the cameras, Gale." I say quickly, standing to face him.

"How do you know that?" He asks, not looking at me. His eyes are fixed to the TV screen. "How do you know that the Capitol hasn't changed her? That's not the Katniss I grew up with. The real Katniss wouldn't do that."

"She's just trying to get the crowds to like her, Gale." I sigh. I can't believe that the Capitol has changed Katniss. I won't believe that they changed her into one of them. "If she didn't do this, then they would all know that what they did in the arena… They'd suspect something."

"Suspect what?" Gale retorts angrily. "Their little act? Pouting and kissing for the crowd? Being the lovesick girl that everyone there seems to want her to be? That's not Katniss, Madge! Katniss wouldn't do that, she wouldn't change for them!"

I've never seen Gale this angry, and it only fuels my own anger. He might be Katniss's best friend, but I was her friend too. How could he talk about her like that?!

"She put on an 'act' to survive, Gale!" I cry, throwing my hands up into the air as I speak. "If she hadn't done that, she would have been killed in the Games, she wouldn't have got sponsors, and Peeta would have died too. Can't you understand that?!"

Gale stays quiet for a while, breathing heavily, staring at the TV screen, ignoring my presence.

"Look at me!" I yell, feeling unbelievably frustrated.

"I wouldn't change for them!" Gale suddenly yells. His eyes move to mine, and I can see the anger there. "I would rather die than change for them!"

"Then you're a coward." I say quietly. I walk out of the room quickly, making sure my shoulder hits into his as I walk past him. Gale doesn't say anything as I leave, but I can tell that he stares after me as I walk down the hallway and then up the stairs to my room. I slam the door behind me and throw myself onto my unmade bed, and realise that the house has gone silent. I curse myself for making so much noise – I might have woken my mother up.

I decide to check on her, just to make sure. Anything to distract me from what just happened. I turn the handle of my door carefully, so that I make as little noise as possible. If Gale heard me coming out of my room, he might come up to see me, but I didn't want to talk to him right now.

I tiptoe out into the hallway, and cross to the other side. The door to my mother's bedroom is slightly down the hall from my own room, and I find myself thankful for the soft carpet that muffles my footsteps. I open the door slowly as I peek my head around it.

The bed is opposite me, and my mother's still form can be clearly seen underneath the covers. The room is dark but I can make out the rise and fall of her chest, which moves steadily enough. I relax, and am just about to turn and leave when I hear my name being called.

"Madge?" My mother asks quietly. She starts to sit up and I move quickly to the side of her bed to stop her.

Once she has lied down again, I ask if I woke her up. She shakes her head and tells me that she's been awake for a while now.

"I'm still sorry for making so much noise," I say quietly. My mother suffered from a rare illness that forced her to stay in bed and to rely on Capitol medicine, mainly morphling, used to drown the pain. I wanted to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb her – I was already breaking the rules by being in the room with her. My father didn't allow me to come in; I wasn't entirely sure why, but I knew that I shouldn't disturb her, so I never went in. This was the first time I had seen my mother in months.

I realise in that moment that I have distanced myself from both of my parents greatly. My father's job keeps him away from me, and my mother's illness stops me from seeing her. It surprised me how much I didn't mind this; I suppose it was because it had always been this way, and I assumed that it always would be.

"Madge?" My mother asks. I realise that I have been daydreaming, and quickly focus my eyes on her. She's pale, and incredibly thin. Her hand stretches out from under the covers and grasps mine, which had been resting on the edge of the bed.

"Sorry," I say again, not meeting her gaze.

"Stop apologising." She says, smiling at me. "I haven't seen you in a while; how are… things?"

I wasn't exactly sure what she meant by 'things'. Did she mean my school life, or my personal life?

I decide to talk about the easier option.

"Well, school's going fine. My grades are good, and we've been given some time off recently because of the Games." I say.

"Ah yes, the Games… Your father filled me in." My mother examines me as she says this, and I know that she wanted to talk to me about my personal life. What else had my father 'filled her in' on? Did she know about Gale?

I can tell she's about to ask about him, and I find myself holding my breath. However, suddenly the door opens, and I turn my head to see Toby standing in the hallway. I expect him to tell me off for being in here, but he doesn't say anything. He goes to the other side of the bed and explains to my mother that it's time for her next morphling shot.

I get up and head towards the door, not wanting to see the needle. I pause in the doorway as my mother calls out to me,

"I love you, Madge."

"I love you too," I reply, glancing back at her. She's sitting up so that she can take her injection, and I can see that she's smiling at me. I manage a brief smile in reply, and shut the door behind me, not bothering to wait for Toby.

**I have no idea why I included Madge's mother in this, but I felt like I should put her in somewhere. I felt like his chapter was a bit of a mess, but it took ages to write, so that might be why. **

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	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 22**

I take the loaf from Peeta's father and hand him the gold coin in return, adding the bread to my bag of groceries Toby sent me to pick up. This evening, my father is going to be holding a party, to celebrate the two victors from District Twelve. Katniss and Peeta would obviously be attending, along with some important people from the Captiol. Effie and Haymitch would also be there, but I was really only interested in seeing Katniss. Although… Maybe she wouldn't think I was her friend anymore? Had the Games changed things between us somehow?

I shake my head, refusing to believe it, and spy a particularly delicious cookie in the display case in front of me, my mouth watering. I open my purse and check inside, and decide that I have enough money. I pull out three silver coins and point to the cookie, and watch as Peeta's father picks it up for me and places it in a brown paper bag, and hands it to me. I give him the money and thank him, before turning and leaving the shop.

Once I'm outside, I pull the cookie halfway out of the bag and take a bite, while checking the list I was given. I'd already bought most things on the list, except for some oranges. To get them, I needed to go pick them up from the town hall, because my father had ordered for them to be imported in from the Capitol. He's sparing no expense for Katniss and Peeta; not only did District Twelve win, but it came away from the Games with two victors, something which had never happened before.

I begin to cross the square and look down at my outfit. I chose to wear a dress today, simply because it was a hot day and I felt like a change. I almost never wore dresses these days.

In the centre of the square is a small fountain, the stone worn and dirty, with leaves floating in the murky water. Despite this, the fountain has been running for as long as I can remember.

I glance at the fountain and notice something shiny on the ground next to it. I lean down so I can see it better, and realize that it's a small, bronze coin. I'm surprised that no one has noticed it already; even in the Town, where the richer people of District Twelve live, a coin is still a coin.

I pick it up and turn it in my fingers, examining it. It's old, dirty, and most of the surface has been rubbed away. Some shops probably wouldn't even take it. It's the smallest kind of coin available – you couldn't buy anything with it, it was worth virtually nothing. I glance at the fountain and decide to throw it in and make a wish, like some people did in my books. Although by tomorrow, it would probably have been taken out of the fountain by someone.

I stare at the coin, and wonder what exactly I want to wish for. My mind drifts to the Gale, but what could I wish about him? That our fight had never happened, and that we'd still be okay? I knew that it was pointless wanting that, but I still wanted it. Despite everything, I missed him. I hadn't seen him since the fight.

"Madge?" A voice asks from behind me. I jump slightly in surprise, and turn around slowly, not sure if I want to see who it is.

His shoulders are slumped, hands in pockets, hair messy and un-combed. There are dark shadows under his eyes, and he looks paler than normal.

"Hi… Gale," I saw quietly, staring up at him.

"Pretty dress." He says, glancing at it. It was the same thing he said to me on the day of the Reaping, although this time I could tell that it was a genuine compliment, rather than an insult.

"Thanks." I mutter, not really sure where to look.

"For what it's worth… I'm sorry, Madge." He says quietly. I look up, and my eyes meet his. He looks genuinely sorry.

"I miss you." His voice has become so quiet that it's almost a whisper. "I really miss you, and I can't avoid you any longer. So I'm sorry, Madge." His eyes stay looking into mine, and although I feel slightly uncomfortable, I don't want to look away.

Gale holds out his arms, and I find myself not being able to resist. I step into the hug, and settle my head into the familiar spot against his chest, where I can hear his heartbeat.

"I'm sorry, too." I mutter. I feel his arms tighten around me. "I'm sorry for yelling… I'm sorry."

Gale relaxes slightly, and sighs slowly. We don't say anything for a while, just hugging. I realise then just how much I missed this. I really wasn't good at being mad at people, and for the last few days, I really hadn't been angry at Gale anymore. I had just wanted things to go back to normal.

"Can we just… Forget about earlier? The Games are done, after all, and Katniss is home. There's no reason for us to… worry about this anymore." Gale says, resting his cheek against the top of my head. I nod, not wanting to ruin the moment, and we continue standing like that in comfortable silence, next to the trickling fountain.

Toby is more than a little surprise when I come home with Gale, and downright shocked when I mention that I invited him to the party that night. He pulls me into the kitchen by my arm, and shuts the door behind us.

"Look, Madge…" He says as I dump the shopping bags on the counter, "I like Toby. I know him. And I know you like him too, but your father?..." I shake my head and smile slightly.

"My father approves of my… Being with Gale." I say. I expect Toby to make a joke or something, but he doesn't, so I look up at him in surprise.

"That's great that he's okay with it and all, Madge, but it might be a bit of a stretch for Gale to be at his party… There's going to be Capitol officials there. Your father will want to make a show of things, and…" He pauses, and looks away from me.

"And?..." I say, staring at him, wondering what this could be about. Toby sighs, and runs his hand through his hair, something I'd seen Gale do many times.

"He's from the Seam, Madge."

"So is Katniss, and so is Peeta. And so are you!" I retort angrily.

"That's different." Toby says firmly. I've never seen him be like this before.

Gale chooses this moment to come in, stopping when he reaches my side, and taking my hand.

"What's going on?" He asks as I lace my fingers with his.

"Toby doesn't seem to think that it would be 'appropriate' for you to attend tonight's party." I say icily, glaring at Toby, who glares right back.

"Madge," Gale says softly, squeezing my hand. "Toby wouldn't keep me out of the party unless there was a good reason."

I stare at him, annoyed and surprised that he wasn't backing me up. I glance between the two of them a couple times, and eventually sigh, giving in.

"Can he at least stay till before?" I ask, tightening my grip on Gale's hand. Now that we had made up, I wasn't ready to say goodbye anytime soon.

Toby sighs and nods, turning to the food, pulling it out of the bags. I'm about to leave when I hear him say,

"Hey Madge, what's this?..." I turn to see him pull my half-eaten cookie out of the bag, which I promptly snatch out of his hands. I take a bite out of it and smile angelically at him, before turning and following Gale up to my bedroom.

**I'm sorry, I know this chapter is short, but I'm quite busy right now.**

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	23. Chapter 23

**I'm sorry for the slow updates :/ you know what would help for faster updates? Reviews! :D**

**Chapter 23**

I shut the door behind me softly and walk over to my bed, on which Gale is currently sitting. He holds out his arms for me, and I move so that I am sitting in his lap, my head cradled against his shoulder. I slide my hands under his worn leather jackets and wrap my arms around Gale's waist. He smiles at me and leans in slowly, before pressing his lips to mine, one hand tangling in my hair. I return the kiss, pressing harder, and after a moment's consideration, I run my tongue slowly along his bottom lip.

I feel Gale recoil slightly at first, more from surprise than anything else, but after a few seconds, brings his lips back and bites the tip of my tongue, as gently as possible.

I don't know what to do here; before Gale, I had never even kissed anyone. Every moment was new to me, and I felt completely inexperienced, especially compared to Gale. He was popular at school, and the vast majority of girls there had chased after him at one point or another. I assumed that he had done this all before, and that scared me, although I hadn't admitted that to him.

I can feel a slight pressure on my back as Gale's hand pulls me against him slowly, our chests now pressed together. After a moment's consideration, I decide that I like this feeling, and hold him tighter, all the while my lips never leaving his.

We fall back onto the bed, the kisses coming faster and harder with each short breath. It's passionate, but at the same time sweet; I can feel that Gale is being careful, making sure that his hands do not go anywhere that they shouldn't. I push my tongue into his mouth, surprising myself as much as I surprise him in doing so, but it seems to be the right thing to do, as I can feel his tongue lick mine encouragingly, our mouths opening slightly to allow for the movement.

Eventually we break apart for breath, but as I inhale I feel Gale's lips trailing along my jaw to my neck, where he plants delicate kisses with his noticeably cool lips. I can feel his breath wash over my skin, which causes me to shiver slightly. We had never done anything like this before, but it felt good. Really good. What's more I felt that I could trust Gale; if I said I was uncomfortable I could be sure that he would stop right away, but right now I knew that I didn't want him to stop.

I gasp slightly as he lowers his lips to my collarbone, and he pauses, wondering if he'd gone too far. I say nothing, not trusting my mouth right now. Once he realises that I wasn't protesting, Gale returns his attention to my collarbone, and all rational thought disappears from my mind. As he sucks gently against my skin I try to bring about some form of conscious thought, but it's impossible. All I can feel, all I can hear, all I can think about is Gale, and I wonder if he has the same effect on me. I dismiss this thought immediately, knowing that someone as inexperienced as me could never make someone like him feel this way. It's not hard letting go of that thought, seeing as at that precise moment Gale's lips once again come into contact with mine, his breath as short and fast as mine. He trails one hand down my back and places it under my thigh, pulling my leg around him, which I allow.

I can't deny that throughout all of this I was frightened; frightened of what might happen, that I might do something wrong, that I might not be what he's expecting, or not enough. However my feelings are numbed as my lip is caught between his teeth, and my hands slide under his t-shirt, an action I wasn't really intending to do, but I did it anyway. My body now ruled over my mind, and it felt scarily new and exciting.

I run my hand across his chest, feeling the muscle there, his smooth, very warm skin. I guide my hand down to his abdomen, and he shivers, his breath catching in his throat. I begin to wonder if I am having an effect on him, similar to the one he has no me, as I bring my hands round to his back and pull him tighter against me. Gale's hands move to my waist, and from there slide around to my back and under my shirt, careful to stay away from my front, and holding me close. Now it is my turn to shiver – his hands are wonderfully hot against my skin. Wherever he touches, it feels like electricity running over the surface of my body, like nothing I've ever experienced before. As we kiss, he traces patterns on my back with one finger, spreading the electricity everywhere, causing my breathing to come much sharper and faster.

Finally we break away for breath once more, and Gale's hands slide out so that they may rest on my waist. I rest my head on my pillow, and he does the same, his face so close to mine that our noses almost touch. I move one hand out from under his shirt and Gale takes it in his, lacing our fingers and squeezing my hand slightly, comfortingly.

"That was… Wow." I say in between each breath.

"I know." Gale replies, his breath equally fast-paced. He smiles at me, and I smile back, watching his grey eyes.

We lie there in silence for a while, just looking at each other, needing no other type of communication than our eyes. I study Gale's face, at his ever-so-slightly crooked nose, the shape of his jaw, the firm arch of his eyebrows. I divert most of my attention either to his lips or his eyes, trying to count each eyelash, or find a name for the colour of his lips. I wonder if he's doing the same, or if I'm just being odd in doing what I was doing.

After a while I close my eyes, and Gale's hand breaks away from mine, only to wrap itself round my shoulders and pull me against his chest. I snuggle closer and inhale deeply, smelling him. He smelt of wood, and of smoke. He smelt like the forest beyond the fence, like wet earth and animals, which actually smelt pretty good. I found his smell comforting.

"I kind of feel… Odd, doing that stuff with you." I eventually say, half to him, and half to myself.

"Odd?" He asks, sounded confused, but there's an undertone of worry. I realise that he might have misinterpreted what I said as 'I don't like doing that stuff with you'.

"I love doing that kind of thing with you," I add hastily, and feel him relax slightly. "I just mean… You're so experienced, and I'm not, and it makes me scared that I'm going to do something wrong, and mess up what we have here." I hide into Gale now, using his chest to hide my face from him, so that he doesn't see the red warmth rushing to my cheeks.

Gale stays silent for a few seconds, mulling over what I've just said. Then, he begins to laugh silently, slight tremors running through his body. I'm confused; is he laughing at me?

"Madge," he begins between chuckles, "do you really think I'm that experienced?" Gale moves one hand to my chin and gently pushes upwards, so that I move my face away from his chest. I'm still blushing madly as his grin comes into my view.

"Well… yeah…" I say, not looking him in the eye. "All the girls at school want you… I assumed that you'd done everything before…" I can feel the heat radiating off my face as I blush a deeper crimson.

"Honestly, Madge, I've only ever kissed girls. That's all." He says softly. My eyes flicker up to his, confusion rushing through me. How could this be true?

My surprise must have shown on my face because Gale sighs and begins to try to explain again.

"I… I've kissed plenty of girls, but it never felt… It never felt like it does when I kiss you. It never felt special, it never felt right. So I never took a relationship further than kissing… Not that I've ever really had a real relationship." Gale says quietly, refusing to look me in the eye. "But when I kiss you… You're all I can think about. Nothing else seems to matter apart from you. I can't think straight, and I forget about everything else. That's never happened with any of the other girls."

It takes me a few moments to fully take this in. I couldn't believe it; I had thought that he had had that effect on me, and not the other way around.

"Wow…" I whisper, not sure what else to say.

"Do I… Do I have that effect on you, Madge?" He asks, moving his hand from my face and to my hair, tangling his fingers in it absentmindedly.

"Yes." I say firmly. "You have that exact effect on me Gale, and I had no idea that it was the same for you." I smile at him, and he finally looks into my eyes, and grins back.

Gale leans in and kisses me, his lips brushing against mine gently, and I instantly lose all conscious thought. It's not a kiss like before; this is not passionate, this is a sweet, slow kiss, a kiss that acknowledges what just happened between us.

We pull away after a few seconds and smile at each other again, not saying anything, just lying there in comfortable silence.

**Sorry to cut it off there, I promise the party will happen in the next chapter. **

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	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 24**

Gale steps outside my room while I change. I open my wardrobe to be met by a single dress hanging off one of the doors. It's white, with one wide strap, and is covered in a thin layer of white lace, which is in a flower pattern.

I decide to leave my legs bare, and slip the dress on, moving to my dressing table so that I can see it in the mirror.

"Gale?" I call, my eyes not leaving the mirror. My father ordered this dress specially for the party tonight; every little detail had to be perfect, and that included what his daughter was wearing. Not that I objected. "Will you zip me up?"

Gale opens the door slowly, and warily pokes his head round it, checking that I'm decent. Once he's realised that I've already got dressed, he opens the door properly and crosses the room. He places one hand on my waist, and uses the other to zip up my dress slowly. He then slides both hands round my waist and pulls me against him in a backwards hug.

"You look really, really nice." Gale whispers in my ear, resting his head on my shoulder and looking at me in the mirror. I smile at him and try to pretend that I'm not blushing. Gale smiles back and then lets me go so that I can put my shoes on.

I walk back over to the wardrobe, and lean down to pick up a box which had been pushed towards the back. I go and sit on the bed and open it, to reveal a cream pair of shoes. Not just any shoes – these were high heels, something imported from the Capitol. Apparently it was a big thing there to wear these kind of shoes right now, and although I usually made a point of not following any of their ridiculous trends, when my father had offered me these I couldn't say no.

I slip them on and stand up slowly, wobbling slightly as I do so. Gale catches my arm to steady me, and I smile gratefully at him. These were only two and a half inch high heels, but I was having a hard time standing up properly. I had heard that in the Capitol, some people wore six-inch high heels, which I couldn't even begin to understand.

"What are those?" Gale exclaims, staring at my feet. I laugh and he laughs too, pulling me into a tight hug, and a quick kiss.

I'm still smiling when we break apart, and I grab my hairbrush and run it through my hair quickly. Gale and I walk down the stairs with him holding my arm so that I can put my weight on him, so that there was less of a chance that I was going to fall over in my shoes.

Toby comes out of the kitchen and upon seeing me does a fake, dramatic gasp and pretends to swoon.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Madge?" He exclaims in a silly, falsetto voice. I laugh and go to elbow him, but end up stumbling in the shoes. I blush madly and straighten quickly, embarrassed that I was so clumsy in them. I mean, I knew I wasn't used to them, but this was bad, even for me.

Gale's still smiling when I turn around, a pretend frown plastered to my face. Toby goes back into the kitchen, still chuckling to himself. Gale leans in and kisses me, or rather, kisses my frown, as I hold it firmly in place. It wavers as Gale plants kiss after kiss on my lips, and I finally give in to a smile. His grin tells me all too well how pleased he is that Toby wound me up.

He pulls me into a tight hug and whispers in my ear,

"I have to go, Madge."

My smile disappears, and I hold him tighter against me.

"But…" I say sadly. I know that he's right, the guests would start arriving soon, and my father had said no to Gale being present at the party. And seeing as tonight meant so much to him, I wasn't going to protest.

"I'm sorry, Madge." Gale nuzzles his face against mine until he finds my lips, and gives me a long, slow, kiss. I sigh against his lips when he breaks away, and he opens the door.

Outside, the sky is a dusky pink. I didn't realise how late it was; I usher Gale out and kiss him once again, as quickly as I can possibly bear.

"Bye, Gale." I say sadly, holding onto one of his hands as he begins to walk away.

"Bye, Madge. Have fun tonight." He replies, giving me a small smile, and squeezing my hand tightly before walking away. I wished that I could stay and watch him walk away, but I realise that it would probably be a good idea to help Toby and my father with the last preparations.

As I enter the kitchen, Toby thrusts some food at me and orders me to start laying it out on a tray. I obediently begin, mulling over tonight's plans in my head as Toby and I prepare the food in comfortable silence, both of us wrapped up in our own thoughts.

Katniss would be here tonight, as would Peeta. That worried me slightly; did Katniss know about my relationship with Gale? How could she? Would Gale tell her without telling me? I dismiss this thought immediately. Gale wouldn't do that. But still, despite the fact that apparently neither of them have feelings for each other, the whole town had expected them to end up getting married, whether it would be for convenience or love. I didn't know if people still thought this; I didn't know how many people knew about me and Gale.

My father interrupts my thoughts by stepping into the kitchen and clearing his throat, breaking the silence so abruptly that it makes me jump, so much so that I almost drop the food.

"You look wonderful, Madge." He says. When he sees my shoes, he raises his eyebrows a little, but says nothing. He ordered them, so I assumed he knew already what they looked like, but I guess he wasn't expecting them to be so high.

"Thank you, father. You look very nice." I reply politely, wishing that I didn't feel so awkward around him still. I thought our conversation with Gale would have brought us a bit closer, but it didn't feel like that right now. I decided to put this down to being nervous for the party, and reassured myself that things between my father and I would get better soon.

My father grunts in some form of reply and leaves the room again, and going into the hallway to make some final preparations of some kind. By now we have finished laying out the food, and I go to the sink to wash my hands. Toby joins me and I smile at him.

"You look nervous, Madge." He says, stating the obvious. Even as I dry my hands on a nearby towel, I can feel them starting to become slippery with sweat.

"Oh, I don't know, just that around fifty important people will be stuffed into our house in a matter of minutes," I say casually, "that I must greet and impress, and act as the mayor's respectable daughter." I manage a weak smile as I say this.

Toby chuckles and pulls me into a brief hug.

"You'll be fine, Madge. Honestly, you've done this before." He says reassuringly. I sigh and look away, and a look of confusion sweeps across his face for a second.

"Is there something else?" He asks.

"Well…" I begin slowly, staring at my hands, which I am twisting and untwisting together, fidgeting. "I used to be… Sort of friends with Katniss at school, but now, everything's different. I don't know if she'll still want to be friends with me, now that she's famous."

"I doubt the Games will have changed that, Madge. Katniss wouldn't do that; you and I both know that she's very strong, emotionally. I must say, though… The Games can change people, and I would be surprised if Katniss hasn't in some way. It may be unnoticeable and it may not, but you can't go through something like that and not be a different person when you come home." Toby says quietly. I sigh and nod, not really knowing how else to reply, and leave the room to go into the hallway, to greet the guests at the door.

"Madge?" A familiar voice calls to me. I turn around quickly, surprised, and almost drop the platter of food that I'm holding. A waiter quickly grabs it – my father hired some from another district to help with the party – and takes it from me with a polite smile. I try not to blush too much from embarrassment as I search for the person who called my name in the mass of people surrounding me, and spot Katniss waving at me from a corner of the room. She's there with Peeta, and I smile meekly atthem both before heading over, pushing my way through the ridiculously outfitted Capitol people.

"Hi, Katniss." I say shyly. It was difficult to wrap my head around seeing her here, after seeing her on the television only a few days ago. Katniss may still be my friend, but now, she was a killer. I didn't want to see her in a negative light, and I certainly didn't right now, but it had still changed things.

"Hey, Madge." She says, sounding slightly shy herself. Peeta smiles at me and extends his hand, a very formal gesture which takes me by surprise. I shake his hand, which is warm, his skin rough.

"How are... things?" She asks, unsure of what to say. The awkwardness between us rapidly grows with each second.

"Good," I say. What else could I say? I'm dating your best friend who everyone thought you were going to marry, but now you're with Peeta? No. So I just said 'good'.

Katniss nods and smiles at me, and I smile back. There's a lot of smiling going here. I didn't want to ask how things were with her, I thought it might make the situation even more uncomfortable, if that were possible.

"I should go serve some more food," I say, making one of the lamest excuses I could come up with. I can tell from Katniss's facial expression that she knows I'm just wanting to escape from the conversation, but she carefully composes herself and says "alright. Bye, Madge."

"Bye, Katniss." I say awkwardly, before I make my escape. I shove people aside as politely as I can, making my way to the kitchen, which is currently empty, with every surface covered in platters of very rich-looking food.

I lean against a counter and let out a loud groan. I didn't mean to be rude, I just couldn't stand the awkward silence any longer. I had no idea if she knew about me and Gale – was the conversation awkward because she knew, or was it simply because of the time apart we've spent from each other, and all that's happened? Or was it just me and my stupid mouth?

I sigh and grab a tray before heading out into the room again, gritting my teeth and forming a fake, but reasonably realistic smile on my face.

**Okay, I know this is super late, but school has just taken up all my time. I'll try and update as much as possible, although work will be my priority. I'll try and do an update every weekend from now on, and when I'm less busy, maybe on chapter on a Saturday and one chapter on a Sunday. But for now, one a week. Let me know how you think Madge and Gale should tell Katniss about them! (Or if you'd prefer, tell me how Katniss should tell them that she already knows). Your advice and reviews always make me smile.**

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